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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29003175">Lost and Found</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/storywriter55/pseuds/storywriter55'>storywriter55</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Milestones [26]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>White Collar (TV 2009)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Deception, F/M, Long Lost Relatives, good old detective work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:34:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>45,108</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29003175</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/storywriter55/pseuds/storywriter55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Amidst preparations for the opening of his long awaited art gallery, Neal enlists Peter’s help to make one of Sara’s most precious dreams come true. Part of the Milestones series (16 years).</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Neal Caffrey/Sara Ellis, Peter Burke &amp; Neal Caffrey</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Milestones [26]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/80614</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>August was a very busy month in the Caffrey household. It meant the family vacation, shopping for school clothes and supplies and just general planning for the new school year for two busy teens with two working parents. Luckily, Sara Ellis was a very organized woman. Despite working full-time as team leader of an elite group of insurance investigators at Sterling Bosch and keeping the household running smoothly, she was the main coordinator of all things ‘logistic’ in the household and her husband deferred to her when it came to keeping everyone on schedule.</p><p>Neal was still employed as an art authenticator at Finch and Johns although he had cut down to three days a week in preparation for the opening of his long awaited art gallery. He was also teaching a class in art history at the Institute of Fine Arts at NYU and working the odd white collar case whenever Peter needed his expert talents - which seemed to be happening more than usual lately. Peter was preparing to retire from the Bureau by the end of the year and Neal surmised his best friend had been calling on him more frequently as a way of holding on to the good old days, days when they’d worked side by side.</p><p>August also brought with it a sad anniversary for Sara Ellis. Every year, as August 28<sup>th</sup> loomed nearer, Neal would begin to observe subtle changes in his wife’s behaviour. Nothing dramatic mind you - Sara was a very no-nonsense woman after all and her life was full and very busy. But in the days leading to that fateful date, he would begin to notice her becoming quieter, a little more morose and, over the years, he’d worked at finding the perfect balance between being supportive and giving her the space she needed. This was <em>her </em>heartache after all and she tended to keep the sadness and pain to herself. But Neal was acutely aware that this year marked a particularly sad milestone - thirty-five years since Emily Ellis had disappeared without a trace, leaving her sister to wonder why she’d left and where she’d gone.</p><p>‘Guys, if you’re not in the car in ten minutes, we’re leaving without you!’ Sara called out from the bottom of the stairs.</p><p>It was a threat their two kids had heard countless times before and it was usually sufficient to light a fire under them. Eleven-year-old Liam figured the chances were slim his parents would actually leave a kid his age alone for two weeks but he really wasn’t prepared to take that chance.</p><p>‘Mom, you say that all the time’ he said as he trudged down the stairs lugging a basketball, a tennis racket and some sneakers. ‘And you never do it!’</p><p>‘Don’t tempt me, buddy!’ she said deadpan, as she ruffled his hair. ‘Hope, <em>what</em> are you doing?’</p><p>Her daughter appeared at the top of the stairs holding her cell against her shoulder as she spoke softly into the phone.</p><p>‘It’s only two weeks’ she was saying as she took her time coming down the stairs. ‘I’ll miss you too. No, there’s no phone service there but I’ll text you as soon as I get back.’ </p><p>She continued down without a care in the world, balancing some art supplies, a bag full of clothes, her laptop and her phone. At sixteen, Hope was a knockout and there was no shortage of interested young men gravitating around her. The current boy du jour, a young man by the name of Justin, had recently caught her eye although her parents suspected her independent streak would make quick work of the relationship. He was her third boyfriend this year, a sure sign the fickle young woman was far from ready to settle down with just one guy.</p><p>Sara rolled her eyes as she heard Neal calling to them from the driveway.</p><p>‘Today, people!’ he shouted as he placed what he hoped was the last of the luggage in the car. Sara could hear Raffie, the family dog, barking excitedly. He knew he was going somewhere but he had no idea where — then again, just being in the car was excitement enough for him.</p><p>The Caffrey family finally settled in for the drive north, Neal at the wheel, Raffie running from one side of the car to the other and the kids engrossed in reading and playing video games. As co-pilot, it was Sara’s job to be up on all the current road conditions, any closures due to repairs and all potential rest stops along the way. Considering they had been vacationing in the same spot since before Liam was born, Neal knew the road inside out and they settled in for the long drive towards the Canadian border en route to the most beautiful cottage in the world – at least in their humble opinion.</p><p>Neal and Sara had discovered the cottage when Hope had been just short of two years old. That summer, Sara had been preparing for chemo treatments following her cancer surgery and they had been desperate for a relaxing getaway. They’d fallen in love with the beauty of Lake Muskoka and had returned to the magical place every summer since. Both of their kids couldn’t remember a year when they didn’t go – except of course, for that one year that no one ever talked about.</p><p>Once there, the days and nights slipped by seamlessly, long, lazy evenings spent around the fire, listening to the loons, roasting marshmallows and enjoying each other’s company. Days were spent by the water, swimming, snorkelling, reading or just plain relaxing. Neal had put up a net for the annual volleyball tournament - girls versus boys, an activity that took place most late afternoons before dinner. But best of all, were the leisurely summer days, hanging out by the dock as everyone enjoyed the warm sun and the gorgeous Canadian scenery.</p><p>‘Dad, I forgot the frisbee’ Liam called out as he and his dad prepared to take a late afternoon swim. </p><p>Neal gave his son a thumbs up. ’All right, I’ll get it’ he said as he climbed back up towards the cottage.</p><p>As he walked in, he heard a soft whimpering sound coming from the bedroom he shared with his wife. He stopped for a moment as it finally dawned on him that today was the day. With all the activity and the days melting into one another, he had not bothered to check the calendar since they’d left home. He followed the sound, finding Sara sitting on the edge of the bed with an all too familiar photograph in her hands.</p><p>‘Sara...’ he said softly as he walked in and took a seat next to her. He rested a hand on her back and waited a moment for her to compose herself.</p><p>She looked up, eyes welling up with tears. ‘It’s thirty-five years today…’ she said quietly. ‘I can’t believe it, thirty-five years of not knowing. Sometimes I think even knowing she’s <em>dead</em> would be easier than this.’</p><p>Neal slipped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into him. ’I know baby, I know’ he whispered into her hair, feeling totally useless, as he always did on this particular anniversary. </p><p>He had offered on more than one occasion to look into Emily’s disappearance but Sara, for all her talk of ‘knowing being better than not knowing’, had steadfastly refused his offer. He surmised it was easier for her to keep believing her older sister was out there somewhere, safe and happy. To know the truth might shatter that illusion and Sara wasn’t yet ready to part with her imaginings. But with each passing year, Neal grew increasingly uneasy with not knowing and he suspected that she did too.</p><p>WCWCWC</p><p>Liam sat with his Uncle Peter at the table on the backyard deck as they went through vacation photographs on his laptop.</p><p>‘And check this out, Uncle Peter, here’s Dad <em>attempting</em> a cannonball’ he said with a mocking laugh.</p><p>‘That was a perfectly respectable cannonball’ contested Neal as he proceeded to flip the burgers on the barbecue. </p><p>It was Labor Day weekend, the last long weekend of the summer and the Caffreys were hostingthe Burkes. Hope was cuddling up to Justin in a far corner of the yard and Neal kept one eye on the two of them while keeping the other on the grill.</p><p>Meanwhile Elizabeth and Sara were in the kitchen putting together a salad for dinner.</p><p>‘So, you had a good time?’ El asked as she sliced up some cucumber.</p><p>‘The best’ Sara beamed. ‘We always do. You know it’s just a question of time before the kids stop wanting to come with us. They’ll be getting summer jobs soon and they won’t want to leave the city but for now, we’re enjoying getting away as a family.’</p><p>Elizabeth nodded as her eyes ventured out the window to the back yard. ‘So what about this boy? Do you think it’s serious?’</p><p>‘I don’t know...’ Sara said. ‘She seems to really like him but when he’s not around, she doesn’t miss him much. She’s so independent.’</p><p>‘The pot calling the kettle black’ mused Elizabeth, looking at her friend. ‘I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.'</p><p>‘Well, you can be very self-sufficient and still be madly in love’ she replied, glancing out the window at her husband who seemed totally engrossed in the task of placing the burgers on a serving platter.</p><p>The patio door opened and Neal stuck his head inside. ‘Burgers are ready’ he said as he winked at his wife.</p><p>‘I rest my case’ Sara said as she grabbed the salad bowl and headed out.</p><p>Neal’s burgers were a hit and as dinner wound down, talk turned to everyone’s projects for the fall, including the preparations for the opening of Neal’s new art gallery scheduled for January.</p><p>‘So, what’s happening with the opening?’ asked Elizabeth. ‘Have you pinned down a date?’</p><p>Sara looked at her husband with pride. It had been a long, sometimes painful process beginning with years of saving up for the venture, finding just the right venue and building up his collection of original art. But it was a labour of love and Neal had been building up to this for years, eager to finally have a place to call his own. If everything went according to plan, in a few short months, he would be the proud owner of his very own gallery, showcasing his art as well as pieces from up and coming new artists, mostly students from the class he was teaching at NYU.</p><p>‘Probably the third week of January’ Neal said with a wide grin. ‘The renovations are coming along nicely.’</p><p>‘Well, don’t forget my offer to do the opening for you. I would love to do it.’ Elizabeth reminded him.</p><p>‘Oh, I haven’t forgotten. I’ve started to prepare a guest list for you to start working on’ he replied as Elizabeth grinned from ear to ear.</p><p>‘You won’t regret it’ she said, leaning forward. ‘I’ve got so many great ideas.’</p><p>Peter glanced over at Neal as they exchanged looks. Neal had no idea what he’d just unleashed.</p><p>‘But…’ he said, before Elizabeth got too carried away. ‘We do it my way.’</p><p>El’s smile faded just a touch. ‘Of course’ she said. ‘Your way.’</p><p>‘Mom’ Hope interrupted as she appeared, holding her young man’s hand. ‘Can Justin and I go up to my room and watch TV?’</p><p>‘You can watch TV in the family room’ said Sara, calm but direct.</p><p>Hope looked over at her dad pleadingly, hoping for a different answer.</p><p>Neal just shrugged. ‘You heard your mom’ he said.</p><p>‘Maybe we’ll just go for a walk, then’ said Hope, heading towards the house.</p><p>Liam, who’d been finishing up a second piece of pie spoke up. ’Mom, can I be excused? Will’s meeting me at the park for some one on one.’</p><p>‘Sure, but be back before dark’ she said as Liam took his leave.</p><p>Neal looked down at the dirty dishes littering the table and searched Peter’s eyes. ‘You want to give me a hand cleaning up?’ he asked, getting to his feet.</p><p>With the women finishing up their coffee as they enjoyed the last of the warm late summer evenings, the guys began tidying up in the kitchen while Raffie roamed, searching for crumbs.</p><p>‘That wasn’t terribly subtle’ Peter said as he rinsed some dishes and passed them over to Neal who stood by the dishwasher.</p><p>‘What?’ Neal asked, giving his best friend his patented innocent smile.</p><p>‘You’re about as subtle as a freight train, something’s on your mind’ Peter said, undeterred.</p><p>Neal scoffed. ‘Peter, I need your help’ he finally admitted. ‘And if we’re going to do this, it would be much easier if we did it while you’re still with the FBI.’</p><p>‘Is this Emily again?’ asked Peter, revisiting a subject Neal had broached several times in the past.</p><p>‘It was thirty-five years this year and Sara was really broken up about it. It’s time, Peter’ he said, keeping his voice down. ‘It’s time I get to the bottom of it.’</p><p>The subject had come up on several occasions in the past, Neal always giving in to Sara’s pleas to let it go. But it was becoming painfully obvious that she would never be ready to take the plunge. Watching her year after year in so much pain… it was up to him to do something about it.</p><p>‘So Sara’s okay with this?’ Peter asked.</p><p>Neal returned his eyes to the plate in his hand, avoiding his partner’s probing gaze.</p><p>‘Not exactly’ he mumbled.</p><p>‘You want to do this behind her back?’ Peter asked with alarm.</p><p>Sara Ellis was one of the most stubborn, most pig-headed people either man had ever met and Peter wasn’t about to do anything that went against her wishes. Not if he valued his life.</p><p>‘Peter you should have seen her. She was totally devastated. It’s not… she can’t keep living like this, year after year, always wondering…’</p><p>Peter sighed, taking in the look of anguish in his best friend’s eyes.</p><p>‘Look, if we come up empty, she never needs to know’ Neal argued. ‘We just… you know, do some poking around…’</p><p>‘Poking around?’ Peter repeated, incredulous. ’This is a thirty-five year old cold case Neal. It’s going to take more than poking around to find anything out.’</p><p>Neal just held his gaze, waiting. Peter shook his head and Neal knew he was making headway.</p><p>‘Please’ he said soberly in one last attempt at getting Peter to agree to his crazy idea.</p><p>‘Fine!’ Peter said, visibly annoyed. ‘I know I’m going to regret this but…’</p><p>‘You won’t’ Neal said with relief. ‘I promise. We’ll do some digging around. We know where the trail starts… we’ll just go from there.’</p><p>‘What about the gallery? You want to be ready to open on time.’</p><p>‘I will’ Neal said, shrugging off the concern. ‘I can take some time off work. What about you?'</p><p>‘I’ve already started to ease into retirement’ Peter said, oddly energized at the prospect of this new adventure.</p><p>‘But Peter, Sara can’t know’ Neal reminded him, his voice low. ‘She doesn’t want me doing this and if it’s not good news…’</p><p>Peter nodded. ’So you’re asking me not to tell Elizabeth?’</p><p>‘Not to tell Elizabeth what?’</p><p>They both turned to find the woman in question staring at them, waiting for an answer.</p><p>Neal smiled at Elizabeth, then nervously glanced over at Peter.</p><p>‘Later...’ mouthed Peter as he saw Sara coming in behind her.</p><p>He knew he’d have to come up with something. Elizabeth Burke was like a dog with a bone when it came to secrets and she could not easily be fooled. The fact that she had x-ray vision when it came to Peter’s thoughts and intentions didn’t help. How was he going to wiggle out of this one?</p><p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>‘So tell me again, <em>why</em> do you have to go to L.A?’ Sara asked as she hastily finished putting together the kids’ lunches on the kitchen counter.</p>
<p>Neal was sipping his coffee, looking over the news headlines on his laptop, trying to avoid her scrutiny. With time, it had become harder and harder to con Sara, even when he was doing it with the best of intentions. He was really out of practice and avoidance seemed like the best strategy.</p>
<p>‘It’s just this case that’s been haunting Peter for the past few years and he really wants to put it to bed before he retires in December’ he said, not looking up from the computer screen. </p>
<p>‘What’s the case, exactly?’ she prodded, apparently disinclined to let it go.</p>
<p>‘I told you, it’s confidential – some guy who’s been under the radar for years and now, he’s on the move.’</p>
<p>He hoped Sara wouldn’t scrutinize him too much – otherwise, he’d be busted. Luckily, she just shrugged. It was never a good time for Neal to be away but this was the first week of school and the kids would need to settle into their new routines. To top it off, Raffie had a vet appointment on Wednesday and she had a big case wrapping up by the end of the week.</p>
<p>‘All right’ she sighed. ‘So, what time is your flight?’</p>
<p>'Two o'clock’ he answered, walking over to her. He laced his arms around her waist and she looked up to meet his gaze.</p>
<p>‘I’m sorry babe, I know it’s a busy week...’ he murmured as he bent down to softly kiss her lips. She let herself melt into the kiss, enjoying the rare moment of closeness in the middle of a busy morning. It seemed that lately their intimacy had been a casualty of their hectic family life.</p>
<p>‘I didn’t even get to give you a proper send-off...’ she said suggestively, lingering on his lips.</p>
<p>‘Well, we’ll just have to make up for that when I get back’ said Neal, smiling down at her with a twinkle in his eye.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>‘So, what did you end up telling Elizabeth?’ Neal asked as the two men sat at the dining room table of the Burke home.</p>
<p>Peter had dug up the very thin file they had on the cold case involving Emily Ellis and they were poring over the very slim pickings therein.</p>
<p>‘Some story that’ll hold her for a few days’ said Peter, ill at ease. He hated not telling his wife everything. Unlike Neal, he’d never developed the ability to re-direct or the skill of not answering a question head-on and he was married to a pit-bull who never gave up when she got it in her head she wanted to know something. </p>
<p>Neal picked up on Peter’s hesitation. ’I know you hate keeping things from El but if she finds out… well, Sara will find out and it’s too early for her to know what we’re doing.’</p>
<p>Peter shrugged; he knew Neal was right and for the time being, he was ready to stay quiet, see if this amounted to anything.</p>
<p>‘What did you tell Sara?’</p>
<p>Neal suddenly looked embarrassed. He’d gotten out of the habit of lying to his wife and making up the story about a case had left him feeling uneasy despite the ease with which the lie had spilled from his lips.</p>
<p>‘I told her I was helping you out on a case you wanted to close before retiring. Some high profile thief who’s been eluding you for a few years...’</p>
<p>‘What? Like another Neal Caffrey?’ said Peter, smiling wryly.</p>
<p>‘Very funny, Peter’ Neal quipped as he turned his attention back to the documents in the file lying on the table.</p>
<p>‘So’ Peter continued, pointing to the piece of paper in Neal’s hand. ‘This is the original missing person’s report and the private investigator’s statement regarding his investigation of Emily’s whereabouts. He had traced her to club in L.A. but she kept a low profile and he never actually found her.’</p>
<p>‘Well, according to this, he suspected she was working as a dancer at this place. It looks like Sara’s parents weren’t all that keen to pursue it after that. Do we know if the club still exists?’</p>
<p>‘Surprisingly, it does’ replied Peter. ‘So… that’s where we start.’</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>Liam Theodore Caffrey was a quiet young man who kept to himself, enjoyed the few friends he had and found an outlet in the many sports he excelled at. He had a strong physique for his age and was as tall as his mom and fast gaining on his dad. He had a fair complexion which freckled in the summer and green eyes that often changed colour, like his mom’s. This was Liam’s first day of junior high school and although he recognized many of the kids he’d known from middle school, he mostly kept to the small group of boys he called friends, including his best friend, Will Allenby.</p>
<p>‘So, are you going to try out for the basketball team?’ asked Will as they shared lunch in the large cafeteria.</p>
<p>‘I was thinking of it, you?’ asked Liam.</p>
<p>‘I don’t know… we’ll be the new recruits and I hate being the new guy on the team’ Will replied as he picked at his sandwich.</p>
<p>‘But we’ll only be the new guys for one year...’ argued Liam.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>Neal hadn’t been to Los Angeles in a very long time. The first thing he noticed when they landed was how the city was buzzing and how it was oh so different from New York, especially at this time of year.Things were starting to cool off in NY whereas in LA, it was still hot, summertime hot, and the two men flagged a cab on their way out of LAX and headed to a motel in a not so desirable part of downtown LA. The neighbourhood was very diverse and it was near the area where they had decided to begin their search. </p>
<p>They found ‘Tito’s Bar’ along a strip on Bathurst Street. It was by no means the only ‘dancer’s club’ on the strip but they found it easily and prepared to make their approach. Neal was all too aware that they only had one shot at this and if they didn’t get anywhere, they would have absolutely no other lead to follow. They’d discussed strategy and Peter had convinced him the best way was the direct approach – to flash his FBI badge and see if the bar had any records of Emily’s passage there or even more unlikely, that someone remembered her from thirty-five years ago. It was an extremely long shot but it was all they had. </p>
<p>They settled in at the bar and ordered beer – domestic, to Neal’s chagrin – and began chatting up the bartender, a man in his thirties who wouldn’t even have been born when Emily passed through there all those years ago. Despite the early hour, the place was hopping with what appeared to be a regular crowd and a stable of rather apathetic looking exotic dancers mindlessly going through their paces. After a little chat, Neal and Peter were able to ascertain that the present owner, a man by the name of Mike Abernathy had purchased the joint twelve years earlier. They finished their drinks and at the opportune time, Peter flashed his badge asking for an introduction to the boss man.</p>
<p>The two men were ushered into a back room where a couple of bouncers seemed more interested in their arrival than the owner himself, who barely looked up as they entered his small, decrepit office.There was a desk, although it would have been difficult to find under the mess of papers strewn all over it, a couple of filing cabinets, two chairs including the one Mr. Abernathy was presently sprawled out on and there was a back door which had been left open and seemed to lead to an alley from where they could smell the wonderful odours from the garbage that was likely kept there.</p>
<p>‘Mr. Abernathy, I’m Special Agent Peter Burke, FBI’ Peter said authoritatively as he flashed his badge. ‘And this is my partner, Neal Caffrey.’</p>
<p>The man in question looked to be in his fifties, balding, with a protruding paunch and with smoke billowing up from his cigar, he squinted as he took a cursory look at Peter’s badge, nodding lazily.</p>
<p>‘We’re investigating a disappearance dating back over thirty years. This young woman’ Peter said, as he flashed the photograph of Emily that Sara kept so dearly. ‘She was employed here back then so we’d like to have a look at your employment records.’</p>
<p>Mike Abernathy glanced up at Peter and gave him an indifferent look. ‘No records’ he muttered between gritted teeth.</p>
<p>‘Look… Mike’ said Peter, turning up the heat a few degrees. ‘I’m sure you wouldn’t appreciate a visit from the California Liquor Board. I happened to notice that your liquor license expired last April.’</p>
<p>Peter let the threat hang in the air and Neal became increasingly uneasy as he noticed the bouncers step forward making their guns visible to the two uninvited guests.</p>
<p>‘Look, agent <em>Burton</em>, is it? I doubt very much your New York badge has any clout here on the west coast and frankly, you are an unwelcome guest in my establishment so I respectfully ask you to leave’ he said, looking Peter up and down.</p>
<p>‘Actually, it’s <em>Burke</em>’ Peter corrected him. ‘And your cooperation would be most appreciated...’ he said, implying that some form of payment might be forthcoming.</p>
<p>Mike Abernathy made the slightest of moves with his head and before Neal and Peter knew what hit them, they were each being grabbed by one of the bouncers, ushered out the door and unceremoniously dumped in the back alley as the door was slammed shut behind them.</p>
<p>They barely had time to react as they both landed firmly on their asses onto the hot asphalt with the bright sun blinding them and their pride wounded.</p>
<p>They heard a small snicker as they began the humiliating job of getting up and dusting themselves off. Neither one of them was as young and agile as they used to be and Peter was briefly reminded of why he was finally retiring at the ripe old age of sixty-four.</p>
<p>They looked up at the outline of a big bear of a man blocking the sun, sitting on a folding chair and puffing away on a cigarette. He had dark, leathered skin, shamelessly showing off deep wrinkles, the sign of a long life lived under the hot California sun. He smiled down at them. </p>
<p>‘So, I hear you boys are looking for Emily Ellis’ he said as the men finally stood and tried to regain their composure.</p>
<p>‘You knew Emily?’ Neal asked, suddenly interested.</p>
<p>‘I remember Emily. She was one of the good ones’ the man said, his voice gruff. 'But she didn’t go by that name for very long, though. She changed it to Sadie… Sadie Johnson.’</p>
<p>Peter and Neal exchanged surprised looks. Was this guy for real?</p>
<p>‘I’ve worked here for 42 years’ said the man, putting out his hand. ‘Name’s Gus Brown.’</p>
<p>‘Gus, I’m Neal Caffrey and this is Peter Burke’ Neal said, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake. The guy had a killer grip despite his advancing years.</p>
<p>‘I heard everything you said in there. Is Emily in some sort of trouble?’ asked Gus, concerned.</p>
<p>‘No’ Neal said, figuring it was best to go with the real story. ‘She’s my sister-in-law.’</p>
<p>The man struggled to stand, towering over them. He was at least six-foot-six and tipped the scale at well over four hundred pounds.</p>
<p>‘Emily disappeared thirty-five years ago and my wife never heard from her again’ Neal continued. ‘We’re trying to find her and bring her home.’</p>
<p>The man nodded sombrely.</p>
<p>‘How long was she here?’ Peter asked.</p>
<p>‘I don’t know… two, three years maybe. She finally left with this no-gooder son of a bitch. He used to hang around here all the time and Emily fell for him. She ended up leaving town with him.’</p>
<p>‘Do you know where they were headed when they left?’ asked Neal, trying to keep his hopes in check.</p>
<p>‘I have no idea...’ said Gus. ‘But she did write me a couple of times... postcards. As a matter of fact, I think I might still have them.’</p>
<p>Neal’s eyes lit up and he looked over at Peter. He could tell Peter was trying to decide if this guy was for real or if he was scamming them.</p>
<p>‘Look, I live right upstairs over the bar. I could have a look and see if I still have the postcards’ said Gus, pointing above their heads.</p>
<p>‘That’d be great!’ said Neal enthusiastically.</p>
<p>Peter brought his hand to his hip and felt the reassuring presence of his gun and nodded to Neal.</p>
<p>Gus led the way and the men followed him up a rusty old metal fire escape that snaked along the back of the building.</p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>‘Hope, I could really use your help with Raffie tomorrow’ Sara said as her daughter breezed by her bedroom door. ‘You know how he gets at the vet’s. It’s always easier if there are two of us.'</p>
<p>Hope leaned against the door jamb. ’I can be back by four. Does that help?’</p>
<p>‘That’d be perfect!’ replied Sara, visibly relieved. </p>
<p>She was feeling flustered. She had a huge day ahead of her at the office. She had a briefing at nine in the morning with members of her team, followed by a meeting with her boss and finally, she had to go into the field with one of the investigators to wrap up one of their high profile cases.</p>
<p>‘When’s Dad coming home, anyway?’ asked Hope. ‘I thought he was coming to my exhibition at the Arts Centre on Friday night.’</p>
<p>‘Oh, he is honey, he is, don’t worry. He’ll probably call in a little while and I’ll remind him again.’</p>
<p>Sara looked fondly at her daughter. Hope was developing into quite the little artist and had been handpicked to share some of her work at a local gallery. After years of working alongside her dad in their home studio, she seemed to have inherited not just his talent but his style as well as his passion. She had a unique view of the world and her self confidence shone through her work, to her dad’s pleasure and pride.</p>
<p>‘So, how are things with Justin?’ Sara couldn’t help but ask. ‘I haven’t seen him around the last few days.’</p>
<p>‘Oh, we broke up’ Hope said matter of factly. ‘He was suffocating me. I mean, I like him a lot but I have other interests too, you know...’</p>
<p>‘I do know’ said Sara. She was constantly amazed at how level headed their daughter was. She had all of Neal’s warmth and spontaneity but it was tempered by her mom’s straightforward approach to life which in fact, was the very best of both worlds. </p>
<p>‘Well, goodnight Mom’ she said.</p>
<p>‘Goodnight sweetheart!’</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>It was a hot and sticky evening made worse by the crushing humidity. Being in California would have been great if they’d been sitting at the beach but downtown LA was sweltering and suffocating, especially in this neighbourhood which seemed to be rife with human misery and despair.</p>
<p>The stairway creaked under the bulk of the large man and Neal followed, wondering if the fire escape could withstand their combined weight. Peter brought up the rear, cautious yet oddly confident. His radar was usually pretty reliable and it hadn’t been buzzing as they chatted with the old man.</p>
<p>Once upstairs, he let them into his tiny dwelling, a studio apartment with no separate room for sleeping. The place was stifling from the heat and Neal wondered how someone lived in those conditions. Even with the sparse furnishings, the room looked crowded and one quick look around confirmed that this man had lived in squalor most of his life and yet he seemed to have maintained a happy heart and faith in people.</p>
<p>‘So, what do you do at the club?’ asked Peter, trying to get a handle on the man’s motivations.</p>
<p>‘I clean, mostly. Sometimes I help with the muscle if they’re short-handed. But Abernathy’s the worse of a long line of owners I’ve worked for over the years and there’s no love lost between us, that’s for sure’ said Gus as he manoeuvred around the small space.</p>
<p>‘Oh, here it is’ he said as he pulled out a small wooden box from the lone bookshelf lining the wall.</p>
<p>He wiped his sweaty brow and opened the box and Neal could see a variety of items including a ring, some ticket stubs, some letters and finally a few postcards buried at the bottom of the box. It appeared the box the large hands were holding contained what he held most dear in his life and Neal was saddened by that realization. He was suddenly aware, once again, of how lucky he’d been to walk away from the abyss of a life of crime and how grateful he was for the family and friends who had stood by him and supported him while he got his life together. He glanced briefly at Peter, the man who’d had the most faith in him over the years and was brought back to reality when the old man spoke.</p>
<p>‘Emily was always very nice to me’ he said. ‘Not all the girls are. Most of them think they’re on the way to fame and fortune and they don’t give guys like me the time of day. But Emily… she was a kind soul. She was troubled though, and she fell in with this guy who used to hang around here, Paul Baxter… a total jerk who took advantage of her. He was a dealer and Emily started doing drugs and she ended up following him out of town. I always wondered if she’d managed to make something of herself.’</p>
<p>He pulled out a couple of postcards and handed them to Neal. They were simple little messages wishing Gus all the best and telling him she was okay. But most importantly, both postcards had a return address, the same address in San Diego. Neal grabbed for his phone and snapped a picture before handing them back over to Gus.</p>
<p>Neal studied the man and was aware, once again, of the loneliness that must be his life. If Gus could remember a kind soul from thirty-five years ago, he could only guess the man hadn’t been on the receiving end of much kindness in his life.</p>
<p>‘Why don’t you jot down your address for me’ said Neal, looking at the man’s weathered face. ‘I can let you know if we finally catch up with her.’</p>
<p>It seemed like the least he could do. He toyed with the idea of slipping the old man some cash but he was afraid of insulting him and finally thought better of it. </p>
<p>As Neal looked up, he noticed that the man was smiling for the first time since they’d come face to face.</p>
<p>‘That would be great’ he said, shaking Neal’s hand.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>Neal lay on the bed in the decrepit motel they were staying at and went over the events of the day. It was a very promising start to their search and not for the first time, he wondered if he was doing the right thing. The last thing he wanted was for this to lead to heartbreak for Sara. He’d put the plan into motion but he had absolutely no control over the outcome. Once they knew for sure one way or the other, he would have no choice but to come clean to his wife. Thoughts of her lingered as he began to relax, her laughter, her warmth, the feel of her body against his, the countless memories of their lives together.</p>
<p>‘I’ll be back’ said Peter, snapping Neal out of his reverie. ‘I’m going to go call El’.He stepped out of the room, leaving his partner with his thoughts.</p>
<p>Neal picked up his phone and dialled the all too familiar number that was home.</p>
<p>‘Hey Repo’ he said as she answered. Just the sound of her voice was enough to bring a smile to his lips.</p>
<p>She sensed sadness, or at least emotion in his voice. ‘Hey honey’ she said. ‘How are things going? You sound a little down.’</p>
<p>‘Naw, I’m fine. Just missing you. They’ve got us staying in this fleabag motel and I miss our cozy bed’ he said earnestly. ‘How are things at home?’</p>
<p>‘Oh you know… the usual craziness of the first day of school. Liam signed up for basketball, Hope broke up with Justin.’</p>
<p>‘Wow, lots of news’ he mused.</p>
<p>He let out a heavy sigh, full of longing. ‘Are you in bed?’ he asked.</p>
<p>‘Yeah, I was just reading.’</p>
<p>He exhaled loudly. ‘Wish I was there’ he said, ever the romantic.</p>
<p>‘Oh yeah?’ she cooed. It had been a bitch of a day and she had just stepped out of her shoes and was finally letting herself relax.</p>
<p>‘What are you wearing?’ he asked playfully.</p>
<p>She giggled. ‘Seriously Neal? Did you call to seduce me over the phone?’</p>
<p>‘What?’ he said, his voice growing rough. ‘Can’t a guy miss his wife?'</p>
<p>‘Where’s Peter? I hope he’s not listening to this dribble!’ she said and he could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke.</p>
<p>‘He’s just outside, probably saying the exact same things to <em>his</em> wife’ said Neal, smiling into the phone. </p>
<p>He heard a whimper, recognizing the familiar sound. ‘I hope you didn’t let Raffie up on the bed’ he said.</p>
<p>‘I have to stay warm somehow’ she said, her voice throaty. ‘My husband is on the other side of the country.’</p>
<p>‘So you <em>do</em> miss me’ Neal said, stretching out and beginning to relax.</p>
<p>‘Stop being such a wuss’ she said in that no-nonsense voice of hers. ‘Listen, you didn’t forget about Hope’s art exhibition on Friday, did you?’</p>
<p>‘Of course not!’ he hastened to say, having totally forgotten. With his mind firmly focussed on his mission, everything else seemed to have fallen by the wayside.</p>
<p>‘We’re gonna wrap up here by Friday morning so tell her I’ll be there in plenty of time to gloat about her accomplishments.’</p>
<p>‘All right. Love you, Caffrey’ she said quietly.</p>
<p>‘Love you more, Repo’ he replied as the door opened and Peter reappeared.</p>
<p>‘See you, Friday...’ he repeated, softly.</p>
<p>‘Bye’ she said languorously, hanging up.</p>
<p>‘You guys are so pathetic even when Dad’s not here!’ said Liam, rolling his eyes as he walked by on the way to his bedroom.</p>
<p>Yes, we are, thought Sara, smiling to herself, yes we are.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Neal glanced up at Peter as he stood by the foot of the bed.</p>
<p>‘So, how’s Elizabeth?’</p>
<p>‘Good. Eager for us to get back. And Sara?’</p>
<p>‘Same. I guess our cover is good for now’ Neal said.</p>
<p>‘Yeah, luckily El didn’t ask for many details.’</p>
<p>Peter reached into the cooler they’d brought along and pulled out a couple of beers, handing one to Neal.</p>
<p>‘That was an amazing stroke of luck today, wasn’t it? I hope our luck holds out in San Diego’ Peter added, taking a seat across from Neal on the other bed.</p>
<p>‘I booked us a car at this rent-a-car place up the street. We can pick it up at 9:00 in the morning. It’s about a two hour drive so that’ll give us all day to snoop around.</p>
<p>‘How do you think we should handle this?’ Neal asked as he took a long, slow pull on his beer.</p>
<p>‘Well, first off we can drive by and check out that address we got. Maybe lightning will strike twice and we’ll find someone who remembers Emily from thirty years ago.’</p>
<p>‘What about the local PD. You have any contacts there?’ Neal asked, looking for a back-up plan.</p>
<p>’A guy I went to Quantico used to work vice. He might be able to help. And we have the name of that guy Emily supposedly ran away with.’</p>
<p>’And her alias’ Neal reminded him.</p>
<p>That was a couple of leads, more than they’d had when they’d started their day.</p>
<p>Neal turned on the lumpy mattress trying to get more comfortable. ‘I have a good feeling about this Peter’ he said, the eternal optimist.</p>
<p>Peter smiled wistfully at his best friend. He knew there were many different ways this could play out and the trail could end suddenly with devastating news at any time. Emily could be dead – especially if she’d been running with a rough crowd. She would be in her mid-fifties by now and nobody with the type of lifestyle Gus had described lived to a ripe old age. He decided to keep his thoughts to himself. Neal’s optimism was infectious and he sincerely hoped that this story would have a happy ending.</p>
<p>‘So, another big day tomorrow.’</p>
<p>It was late but he felt his stomach grumble. 'You want to go out and grab something to eat?’ he asked his partner.</p>
<p>Neal sprung to his feet. ’Let’s do it!’ </p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The boys were up bright and early despite a very short night’s sleep on very lumpy mattresses. They were eager to get going and Neal wanted to make sure they didn’t linger more than necessary. He needed to be on a flight back to NY by noon the next day. They grabbed some coffee and muffins at a fast food place nearby and were on the road to San Diego by 9:15, discussing strategy and contingency plans as they drove.</p>
<p>They rolled into the city by 11:30 and decided to head over directly to the address Gus had provided them with: 376 Elm Street in the Gaslamp Quarter of the city. The area was mostly industrial, located near the waterfront and it was a mixture of old, barely standing buildings and newer upstarts. They cruised up and down the area and it didn’t take long for them to figure out that whatever apartment dwelling had existed at 376 Elm Street was no longer there.</p>
<p>‘Strike one’ said Peter as they drove up the street for the third time.</p>
<p>Neal was disappointed but by not means discouraged. ’So, what do you say? How about we try to reach out to that contact you have over at SDPD?’ he suggested.</p>
<p>Peter nodded. ‘I was just thinking the same thing. I haven’t talked to him in a couple of years. I hope he hasn’t retired’ he said as he turned the car around and headed west towards the mainland.</p>
<p>It wasn’t difficult to find a fellow lawman when you had the type of contacts Peter Burke had and shortly after lunch, they were sitting across from Captain Mark Donaldson and he and Peter were exchanging stories about their glory days at the academy. They’d had a passing friendship at the time, and they both had fond memories of the many experiences they’d shared while training at Quantico.</p>
<p>‘So, as much as I’d like to think you two came all this way to reminisce, I have a feeling you’re here about something else’ said the police officer.</p>
<p>‘Nothing gets past you, Captain Donaldson’ said Peter, grinning. ‘We’re on the trail of a very old cold case, trying to locate a woman who disappeared from the LA area about thirty-two years ago.’</p>
<p>Mark looked at Peter questioningly. ‘And this woman... who is she?’</p>
<p>‘She’s Neal’s sister-in-law. She disappeared when she was sixteen and made her way to the west coast, fell in with a bad crowd. Neal’s wife has never gotten over it so we’re trying to get to the bottom of it – or at least giving it our best shot’ Peter explained.</p>
<p>‘So, what do you know about her?’ asked the captain.</p>
<p>Neal leaned in as he spoke. ’Her name is Emily Ellis, but she had an alias – Sadie Johnson. She would have come to San Diego about thirty-two years ago from LA and she was living with a man named Paul Baxter, a drug runner.’</p>
<p>‘Well, let’s start there, then’ said Mark as he turned to his computer screen.</p>
<p>‘We also have a last known address’ Peter added, handing over the information.</p>
<p>‘Whoa! That area was totally torn down at least a dozen years ago’ said the man.</p>
<p>‘That’s what we found out’ Peter said.</p>
<p>The police captain punched away at his computer and within two minutes, he was able to ascertain that, although they didn’t have anything on Emily Ellis, they did have one hit on Sadie Johnson. Paul Baxter, on the other hand, had a lengthy rap sheet but he’d fallen off their radar more than twenty years before so Mark excused himself to go dig up some good old paper records in the department’s morgue for dead files.</p>
<p>‘Thank God for technology’ commented Neal as he stood to stretch after he and Peter were left alone.</p>
<p>‘Well, let’s hope San Diego is good at keeping old records’ said Peter just as Mark returned carrying a thick file in his hands.</p>
<p>‘You’re in luck, gentlemen. This Baxter guy was on our radar for a long time and he left a long trail of minor infractions’ he said as he began thumbing through the file for pertinent information.</p>
<p>By the time Neal and Peter left his office thirty minutes later, they had four different San Diego addresses for Paul Baxter and, starting with the first one, they hit the pavement.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>Liam had a bad case of the jitters. Although he’d played for the basketball team, the volleyball team and the soccer team at his middle school and despite the fact that he’d been the high scorer for the intramural basketball league for the whole of the White Plains district, he was having trouble keeping his nerves in check as he prepared for his first junior high tryout. He had already downed two bottles of water but he was still feeling thirsty and truth be told he was feeling a little dizzy. He spotted his buddy, Will, coming into the gym and jogged over to meet him.</p>
<p>‘You up for this?’ he asked Will as he adjusted the too large jersey they had given him for the tryout.</p>
<p>‘I guess’ said Will, hesitant.</p>
<p>They were interrupted by the coach’s whistle calling all new recruits to the bench for instructions.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>The first place Neal and Peter hit was in a very dilapidated and economically deprived area of town as evidenced by the number of pay day loan places and the decrepit state of the buildings nearby. They found 148 Flora easily enough. It was a three floor walk-up with a rickety set of stairs leading to the front door. Peter knocked on the apartment door with the word ‘Sprtendnt’ on it, the missing letters having fallen off and never been replaced. He and Neal shared a wayward glance as they waited for the occupant to come to the door.</p>
<p>Finally, a man who looked to be in his mid to late forties appeared. Hey was a large Latino man with an oversized moustache and a booming voice to match.</p>
<p>‘What do you want?’ he bellowed as he opened the door. The men had obviously interrupted his beauty sleep.</p>
<p>‘We were wondering if you could help us?’ asked Peter, flashing his FBI badge.</p>
<p>‘I know nothing’ the man said as he prepared to close the door.</p>
<p>Peter took a tentative step forward to keep him from closing the door. ‘Sir, we’re just gathering some information on someone who lived here several years back, a Mr. Paul Baxter.’</p>
<p>‘Don’t know him’ the man said, again attempting to close the door.</p>
<p>‘Do you have residents who have lived here for over twenty, twenty-five years?’ Peter asked, in a last ditch effort.</p>
<p>‘Look around, buddy. Would <em>you</em> stay around here any longer than you had to?’ asked the man gruffly as he finally succeeded in slamming the door in their faces.</p>
<p>‘Strike two’ mumbled Peter, under his breath.</p>
<p>The second address they’d been given was a few blocks over. According to the records, this was also the address they had for Sadie Johnson on her one and only arrest for drug possession. The place looked marginally better, a little cleaner and there were actually flower beds outside one of the apartments in the building. This time, they had to buzz in to the superintendent to be let in. They were about to give up when a young woman came up the steps and took out her key, ostensibly to let herself into the building. She eyed Neal and Peter suspiciously but looking at the way they were dressed, she seemed to conclude that they weren’t an immediate threat.</p>
<p>‘Hi’ said Peter as he took out his badge once more. ‘Do you live here?’ he asked as the woman nodded.</p>
<p>‘We’re looking for someone who lived here about thirty or so years ago’ added Neal, smiling his winning smile, hoping the woman would relax enough to talk.</p>
<p>‘I’ve only lived here since last May’ said the woman meekly.</p>
<p>‘What about the superintendent?’ Peter asked.</p>
<p>‘Mrs. Moore?Oh, she’s been here forever!’ said the woman, visibly relaxing.</p>
<p>‘And is Mrs. Moore in right now?’ asked Peter.</p>
<p>‘No, she goes to the senior centre every Thursday afternoon for her game of gin rummy. She won’t be back until dinnertime’ said the woman.</p>
<p>Peter pulled out one of his business cards and handed it to the woman. ‘Do you think you could ask her to call me when she gets in? We’re looking for this woman’ he said as he jotted Emily’s name on the back of his business card.</p>
<p>‘Sure, I can do that’ said the young woman as she finally let herself in and closed the door behind her.</p>
<p>‘Strike three?’ Peter wondered.</p>
<p>The last two addresses were dead ends and Peter and Neal decided they should start looking for a place to stay for the night. It was past 8:00 and they were both hungry and tired, on the verge of being hangry.</p>
<p>They decided to spring for accommodations that were a slight upgrade from their place in LA and hunkered down at the local Howard Johnson having grabbed some take-out Mexican food for dinner.Neal was feeling demoralized and downtrodden. He didn’t want to believe they had finally come to the end of the line already, a mere forty-eight hours after they’d begun their search. They ate in silence, each one deep in thought as to their next steps in light of the lack of information the day had produced. </p>
<p>Halfway through his enchilada, Peter’s phone rang and he looked up at Neal.</p>
<p>‘Must be El’ he said, putting down his dinner and heading to a corner of the room to take the call. Of course, the room being what it was, it did not afford much privacy and Neal’s ears perked up as he heard Peter’s voice.</p>
<p>‘Mrs. Moore? Of course, thank you so much for calling back’ Peter looked excitedly over at Neal as he moved back to where Neal was sitting.</p>
<p>‘You <em>do </em>remember Emily?’ Peter was saying. ‘Yes, you’re right it was a very long time ago.’</p>
<p>‘Ma’am, I’m travelling with Emily’s brother-in-law. Would it be okay if we stopped by to see you and talk with you? We could be there in about thirty minutes.’</p>
<p>Neal was looking over at Peter with a twinkle in his eyes, unable to believe their luck.</p>
<p>‘Oh, I see. Yes, I understand. Tomorrow morning would be fine. Around 9, then? Thank you Mrs. Moore.We look forward to meeting you.’</p>
<p>Peter looked over at Neal, eyes bright and smiling. ‘Do you believe that?’ he said as he put away his phone.</p>
<p>‘Couldn’t she see us tonight?’ asked Neal, somewhat disappointed.</p>
<p>‘I didn’t want to push it. She sounded elderly and she seemed a bit tentative. I didn’t want to spook her.’</p>
<p>Neal shrugged. ‘I guess… I’m just really anxious to hear what she has to say.’</p>
<p>‘Did you bring some of your family photos like we discussed?’ asked Peter.</p>
<p>‘Yeah, I’ve got stuff from our holidays and some of Sara and the kids’ said Neal as he began to go through his suitcase looking for said photographs.</p>
<p>‘Good, I have a feeling Mrs. Moore knew Emily more than just in passing. And I think she might react positively to seeing Emily’s family and how eager you are to be reunited with her’ Peter commented.</p>
<p>Despite the more comfortable accommodations, Neal was having trouble settling down as he lay on the bed. He kept running over things in his head, wondering if this woman would be able to give them any information about where Emily went when she finally left San Diego – that is,<em> if</em> she ever left.</p>
<p>He wanted to talk to Sara but he was afraid his emotions would seep into the conversation and he didn’t want to have to explain why he was so excited about a routine investigation. He finally gave up at around three in the morning, west coast time, knowing Sara would be up any time now and he opted to text her, keeping emotions out of it.</p>
<p>Neal:<em>Hey, good night’s sleep?</em></p>
<p>Sara:<em>Not bad, miss you</em></p>
<p>Neal:<em>Me too.Upgraded to a Howard Johnson but still not the same without you here</em></p>
<p>Sara:<em>I love it when you talk dirty....</em></p>
<p>Neal: 😜 <em>I’ll let you know what time my flight comes in</em></p>
<p>Sara:<em>Get some sleep, Caffrey!</em></p>
<p>Neal:❤️❤️❤️❤️</p>
<p>Sara:🥰</p>
<p>Feeling more relaxed, Neal finally settled in for a couple of hours of uninterrupted sleep.</p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Neal was dreaming of Raffie sleeping on their bed. He kept pushing him off but the dog kept re-appearing and Neal was getting really pissed off. He finally gave the animal one last good shove.</p>
<p>‘Hey, careful!’ said Peter, waking Neal as he spoke. He’d been sitting on the edge of Neal’s bed for the past few minutes trying to rouse him from what looked like a really deep sleep.</p>
<p>‘Sorry, I guess I was… dreaming’ said a sleepy Neal as he rubbed his eyes. He snuck a peek at the clock on the bedside table. It was already 8:00 and he sat up as he remembered their meeting in an hour.</p>
<p>‘You’d better jump in the shower. It’ll take us at least half an hour to get over to Mrs. Moore’s place in rush hour traffic’ warned Peter standing and rubbing his sore backside. ‘You still have a hell of a kick there, Jackie Chan!’</p>
<p>Neal scoffed and got up instantly, making his way to the washroom.</p>
<p>‘What time is our flight?’ he called out to Peter over the running water.</p>
<p>‘Eleven, so we have no time to lose’ replied Peter.</p>
<p>‘Shit, that’s gonna be tight’ said Neal. ‘I’m supposed to be at Hope’s art exhibition tonight and it starts at seven thirty. Let’s see’ he continued as he did the mental math for the time change between the two coasts. ‘We won’t be back until eight New York time... I’m going to have some serious grovelling to do.’</p>
<p>In record time, he reappeared, smartly dressed and ready to leave and the duo headed out once more to continue their investigation, feeling somewhat more confident than the night before.</p>
<p>As it turned out, Mrs. Moore welcomed them more like long lost relatives than the strangers they were to her. They wondered how such an innocent looking old lady could remain safe and secure in this kind of neighbourhood but before long, they found that Mrs. Moore was tough as nails despite her heart of gold.</p>
<p>‘Let me get you some tea’ she said, her voice trembling as the men came into her apartment. </p>
<p>The dwelling was the polar opposite of what one might imagine when looking from the outside. It wasa lovely little two bedroom apartment with antique furniture and dozens of pictures of friends and family displayed all over the place. She lived with her nephew, Fred, who was the de facto superintendent although she obviously ruled the roost.</p>
<p>Peter and Neal looked at each other, unable to keep from smiling. She was a doodle, a real character, and it was going to be difficult to wrap this all up within an hour.</p>
<p>Mrs. Moore returned with tea and crumpets and prepared to serve the two men as she spoke. </p>
<p>‘I remember Emily very well. She lived here for five years altogether. Two with that no good what’s his name and then, she stayed on in 3B for another three years after that. She was a lovely young woman, although she had her demons. But by the time she left, she was as clean as a whistle and had a bright future ahead of her’ said Mrs. Moore as she poured them each a cup of tea. </p>
<p>She stood up unsteadily and walked over to the fireplace mantle, returning with a framed photograph in her hands.</p>
<p>‘Here she is, on the day she left’ she said, handing over the framed picture to Neal. </p>
<p>He could see a much younger Mrs. Moore with her arm around a young woman’s shoulders and he did a double take at the resemblance to Sara. He smiled and passed the frame over to Peter.</p>
<p>Neal pulled out a picture of Sara and the kids and showed it to the landlady. </p>
<p>‘This is Emily’s sister, Sara and these are our two children, Hope and Liam. My wife was only twelve years old when Emily left unexpectedly at sixteen and she never quite got over it’ said Neal looking into Mrs. Moore’s eyes. ‘I’m hoping to find her and bring about a reconciliation – if Emily agrees, of course.’</p>
<p>‘Ah, that’s a lovely story’ said the woman. ‘And you have a beautiful family.’</p>
<p>‘But the trail stops here’ added Peter. ‘Do you know where she was headed when she finally left here?’</p>
<p>‘Of course, she had scraped up enough money to go to school. It was her dream to become a teacher and she enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts in Education at Arizona State University. She kept in touch for the first little while but you know...’ she said wistfully. ‘...people drift apart. But she was doing well and she was looking forward to graduating and taking a job as an elementary school teacher.’</p>
<p>Neal and Peter were having a lovely time and would have lingered much longer but they were painfully aware of the clock ticking. They had just enough of a window to make it to the airport and hop the plane back to the east coast so they bid Mrs. Moore adieu, promising to stay in touch and letting her know how their search turned out. </p>
<p>Neal was ecstatic that their first foray had been so productive. They were no longer looking for someone who had disappeared thirty-five years ago. They had now trimmed that down to twenty-seven years and the closer in time they got, the better the chances of people remembering any encounter they might have had with Emily.</p>
<p>He texted Sara to let her know he was on his way, warning that he would be arriving late and asking her to apologize to Hope. He would make his way to the exhibition directly from the airport, he promised, and he would make it up to Hope when he got there.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>Friday night usually meant dinner out for the Caffrey family and tonight was no exception. Except it was supposed to be a celebratory meal for Hope’s exhibition and an important member of the family had yet to make an appearance.</p>
<p>‘Daddy just texted again’ said Sara, putting away her phone. ‘Their plane is on schedule, so he should be at the exhibition by 8:30 or so. He apologizes again’ she said looking at Hope.</p>
<p>‘Mom, it’s okay. It’s his job. I know he’ll be there as soon as he can’ said Hope, rather laid back.</p>
<p>Sara couldn’t help but marvel at her daughter’s poise and calm. She, herself, was seething. She hated it when Neal bit off more than he could chew and others suffered the consequences. For all his virtues, Neal was still an impulsive and impetuous person and it still pushed her buttons after all these years. His heart was always in the right place but he still had issues with reining in his impulses and at times like these, that particular trait really rubbed her the wrong way. She took a deep breath; no sense ruining the dinner for everyone with her foul mood. If Hope, who was the injured party, could overlook her dad’s Neal’s shortcomings in this situation, surely she could do the same.</p>
<p>‘So, any news on the tryouts?’ she asked Liam who was busy digging into his burger and fries,</p>
<p>‘Yeah, I made the team’ he said quietly.</p>
<p>‘Honey that’s fantastic!’ said Sara. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’</p>
<p>He shrugged, seemingly out of sorts. He was more the strong silent type anyway and being dragged to his sister’s art exhibition was not his idea of a fun way to spend a Friday night, especially when there was a hockey game on TV.</p>
<p>‘So, Hope, how many of your pieces are they showing?’ she asked her daughter, keeping the conversation going.</p>
<p>The Arts Centre was a local art gallery which showcased up and coming artists and every year they had a showing of exceptional students’ works. High school students from across the New York area were invited to compete for one of three spots and the school district used the exhibit as a means to fundraise for its arts program. </p>
<p>‘Well, there were three of us chosen for the exhibit and we each got to choose six pieces’ she explained as she took a sip of her drink.</p>
<p>‘I picked two that I painted at the cottage, you know the one with the loons and the other one of you reading in that green Adirondack chair’ she continued.</p>
<p>‘Oh,I like that one' Sara exclaimed. 'I can’t wait to see. What else?’ </p>
<p>‘Well, I picked that sculpture from last year, you know the one I won that prize for?’ </p>
<p>Sara nodded, enthusiastically.‘And there's portrait of Justin I don’t think you’ve ever seen. And then there’s that still life I really like from last year and I can’t remember the last one...’</p>
<p>‘Wow, this is such great exposure, honey. Dad and I are so proud of you!’ Sara said, finally.‘And you, young man... Dad’ll be excited to hear you made the basketball team. When do the games start?’</p>
<p>‘There’s one next Tuesday at our school. Starts at 4:00’ he said, smiling at his mom.</p>
<p>‘I’ll be there, with bells on’ countered Sara.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>The plane landed at JFK right on time but getting out of the airport was always a bear and Neal was acutely aware of the time. He was looking forward to seeing Sara and the kids and he was excited about Hope’s role in the exhibit. He’d helped her pick the pieces she’d presented to the selection committee and he’d encouraged her to submit a variety of styles and mediums. She had the uncanny ability of bringing subtlety to all her pieces, leaving the audience to interpret while gently leading them to where she wanted them to go.</p>
<p>He had forgotten to ask about Liam’s tryout and he made a mental note to ask as soon as he got in. He could just imagine his son at the exhibition, biding his time, waiting for the moment when he could get back home to whatever game was on TV tonight. With Hope, all the activity was visceral, happening inside her head and her gut whereas Liam was kinetic, needing to move in order to feel fully self-actualized. They couldn’t be more different and yet, he loved them both more than anything.</p>
<p>The taxi pulled up in front of the Arts Centre at 8:40 and Neal ran in as fast as his fifty-one year old legs would carry him. He spotted Sara chatting with the gallery owner and made his way over to them as he adjusted his suit which was a little worse for wear from sitting on an airplane for almost six hours.</p>
<p>‘Hi honey’ he called as he got closer. Sara’s eyes met his and although she was smiling, he knew she was less than thrilled with his late arrival.</p>
<p>‘Hi’ she said with a quick peck to his cheek. ‘You made it.’</p>
<p>‘Hello Jonathan’ Neal said, shaking the gallery owner’s hand. ‘Another great success, I see.’</p>
<p>‘Yes, and congratulations on having your daughter’s work highlighted this year. She’s a very talented young woman’ said the man, excusing himself to greet his other guests.</p>
<p>‘So...’ said Neal, preparing to suffer Sara’s wrath.</p>
<p>‘You okay?’ she asked. He looked less than his usual impeccably put together self, not like Neal at all and she felt bad for those nasty thoughts she’d had at dinner.</p>
<p>‘Yeah, I’m sorry. Trying to squeeze too much into my day and the damn time change...’ he began, letting his voice trail.</p>
<p>Neal looked up to see Hope walking over to him. ‘Dad!’ she called out.</p>
<p>‘Hey, sweet pea! You look amazing!’ he said, opening his arms to her.</p>
<p>She was wearing a beautiful blue dress he’d never seen before and although her colouring was all his, every once in a while he would spot Sara in the way she moved and carried herself.</p>
<p>‘So, are you going to take me around and show me your pieces?’ asked Neal, putting out his arm for her to lace hers into. </p>
<p>Sara looked on approvingly and all was forgiven.</p>
<p>The exhibit ended at ten o’clock and the foursome headed home. Despite the late hour, Neal sat with Liam to watch the last period of the game and Liam told his dad all about the tryouts and opening game on the following week. Sara sat at the kitchen table nursing a cup of tea and smiled at the lively exchange between father and son. Neal had found a way to fit in both their worlds so seamlessly and she absolutely loved that about him.</p>
<p>She made her way to the stairs as she gave her husband an exaggerated wink. Hopefully he’d saved some of that quality time for her....</p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Neal was awaked by the soft rustle of sheets as Sara moved in the bed next to him and it took him a moment to remember where he was and recall the events of the last twenty-four hours. After a couple of nights away, he was relieved to find he was in his own bed and more importantly, next to his amazing wife. He had finally made it to bed just past midnight and despite his best efforts at cuddling up to her, Sara had nodded off during the preliminaries. </p>
<p>He cozied up to her, spooning her warm body and he shifted his hips so he could get nice and close as his arm wrapped around her waist. She moaned softly as she felt him against her and he took that as encouragement and pulled her in even closer.</p>
<p>‘Good morning’ he whispered into her hair as she turned to face him.</p>
<p>‘Hi’ she said with a naughty smile on her lips. ‘Sorry about last night. I <em>did</em> enjoy the first round but I guess I ran out of gas just when it was getting interesting.’</p>
<p>Neal brushed her hair out of her face and planted a kiss on her lips. </p>
<p>‘That’s okay’ he said, his voice rough. ‘You’re awake <em>now, </em>that’s all that matters.’</p>
<p>Sara snaked her arms around his waist and lifted her leg to pull him closer. Turned out that was plenty of encouragement for Neal and he began to respond to the feel of her warm skin against his. She blew in his ear, whispering his name and he shivered. Having this dishevelled and very sexy woman lying next to him worked magic every time. She was his wife, even more beautiful than when he’d first met her all those years ago and he proceeded to make amends for his absence, making up for lost time after a hectic week for both of them. </p>
<p>As always, their connection was effortless and afterward, Sara purred contentedly as she stretched out on the bed. Neal studied her relaxed face and thought back to the events of the past week, reminding himself that if he could manage to pull this off, he would make his wife very happy – and that, in turn, made <em>him </em>very happy.</p>
<p>He knew that, before long, he and Peter would have to take another road trip but the time wasn’t right to bring that up. Sara had been a good sport, not questioning the details of his California getaway but if he brought up another trip now, she would surely demand more information. Instead, he pulled her in to him, breathing in her scent and let out a satisfied sigh.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>Saturday usually meant dinner with the Burkes and this time around, Neal and Sara were invited out to Brooklyn without the kids so they could discuss plans for the gallery opening and Elizabeth’s role in coordinating the event.</p>
<p>El placed the last of the serving bowls on the table and took a seat. ‘I want to hear all about what’s going on with the gallery’ she said.</p>
<p>‘Not much this past week with our little trip out west’ Neal said with a sideways glance in Peter’s direction. ‘But this coming week, I’m meeting the contractor and we’re going to finalize colours and design elements for the first floor’ he added, his eyes sparkling with excitement.</p>
<p>Whenever he talked about the gallery and its upcoming opening, Sara could see the pure unadulterated joy in his eyes. It had been a long standing dream of his to have a place of his own to display his art and after years of sacrifice, his dream was about to come true. The building they’d purchased was located directly in the Chelsea art district of Manhattan, on West 27<sup>th</sup> Street, quite a coup considering the lack of availability of space in that area. The two story, twelve hundred square foot building, sandwiched between an upscale coffee place and a shoe boutique had originally been a clothing store. It had required a fair bit of an overhaul but they were finally down to the more aesthetic elements of the renovation and Neal had a very clear vision of what he wanted for <em>his</em> gallery. </p>
<p>Although this was a chance for him to display the fruits of his labor, he also saw it as an opportunity to showcase Hope’s work as well as the artwork produced by some of his students over at NYU. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that if Hope decided to go down that road, she could have a brilliant career as an artist and he and Sara had begun to put some serious money aside for her to attend an excellent art program when she graduated from high school in two years. She’d mentioned the first-rate program at Carnegie Mellon on more than one occasion and that represented a considerable investment...Although the gallery was a money pit for the time being, if they followed their carefully crafted business plan, they could make a go of it and be turning a profit by then.</p>
<p>‘So what’s the budget for the opening? Did you firm up your number of attendees?’ Elizabeth asked as she tucked into the pork roast she had just served.</p>
<p>Neal looked over at Sara. They’d begun to discuss the guest list and agreed they didn’t want to blow too much money on the opening itself, preferring to invest more heavily in the renovation and elements of the gallery that would have a more long lasting impact.</p>
<p>‘We want to keep the guest list to under 100’ Neal said tentatively. ‘Money’s tight and Sara and I would prefer investing it in the place itself.’</p>
<p>‘That sounds more than reasonable to me’ said Elizabeth in an attempt to reassure him. ‘You know, we don’t have to go with champagne and caviar. We can do something a little more modest.’</p>
<p>Neal sighed, somewhat relieved. Elizabeth Burke was an amazing event planner but she could easily get carried away. He had seen her let loose on dozens of projects over the past twenty years, not the least of which had been their wedding which had begun as a simple affair but had blossomed into an event of major proportions – not that either one of them had complained. ‘We were thinking of maybe having an afternoon opening’ said Sara. ‘A little more family oriented.You know, all these art people have families too and that’s more reflective of the vision we have for the gallery anyway.’</p>
<p>Sara was Neal’s biggest fan and neither one of them ever made an important decision without consulting the other, especially when their pooled resources were involved. They had been sharing ideas for weeks and they both had a very down to earth vision for the gallery. In very different ways and from very different perspectives, they’d both been involved in the art world their whole lives and they shared the view that art should appeal to the masses and not be perceived as out of the reach of the general population. </p>
<p>‘Why don’t you let me run with that’ said Elizabeth. ‘And I’ll get back to you with a few ideas.’</p>
<p>As the meal wrapped up, Neal became eager to get Peter alone. He wanted to discuss phase two of their secret mission and when Peter suggested they step out to enjoy an after dinner cigar, he willingly agreed, leaving the women settle with their cup of tea in the Burke living room.</p>
<p>It was a cool September evening and the two friends settled out in the backyard, lighting up as they prepared to discuss where to go from here.</p>
<p>‘So, did you get any flack from Elizabeth?’ Neal asked.</p>
<p>‘None, you?’ Peter replied.</p>
<p>For two strong, independent thinking middle-aged men, they sure worried a lot about what their wives thought. Both of them had learned a long time ago that, in most cases, it was better to not keep any secrets from their spouses lest they be prepared to deal with the fallout of such indiscretions. This lesson had been particularly difficult for Neal who’d spent a good part of his adult life perfecting ways of deflecting the truth and projecting an image of charm and confidence. But being married to Sara Ellis for the past fifteen years had set him straight on that score and he'd learned to appreciate the benefits of transparency and honesty.</p>
<p>‘No, Sara’s been great. It’s almost like they know what we’re up to...’ said Neal, dropping his voice to a mere whisper.</p>
<p>Peter glanced inside, making sure the women where out of ear range. ’I doubt that but they <em>have </em>been married to us for a long time and they know that when it comes to the cases we work on, we can’t always tell them everything.’</p>
<p>‘So, what’s our next step?’ asked Neal.</p>
<p>‘I went ahead and put in a formal request to the University of Arizona so we can get Emily’s transcripts from her time there. That way, we can get some details, maybe get an address, find out if she graduated and maybe even where she went from there.’</p>
<p>‘Are you going through official Bureau channels?’ Neal asked, grateful for Peter’s connections.</p>
<p>‘I think we’ll get much better cooperation that way. Then, with any luck, we can find out where she went after she graduated – <em>if</em> she graduated, that is. Some states actually have lists of certified teachers. We might even be able to find out where she taught – if she got a job teaching that is.’</p>
<p>Neal looked at Peter, his eyes sparkling with excitement. He felt they were really getting somewhere although he was painfully aware that the trail could dry up at any moment.</p>
<p>Peter felt the need to inject a little reality into his partner’s overly optimistic view of things. ‘You know Neal, this thing could crash at any minute’ he said as he pulled in a slow toke of his cigar.</p>
<p>Neal nodded but his smile lingered. ‘I know… I just have a good feeling about this. We’re going to find her Peter.’</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>Monday morning meant back to school for the kids and back to work for Sara. Neal had taken the following two weeks off from his regular job at Finch and Johns in order to concentrate on getting things moving for the gallery opening. At least, that’s what he’d told his wife. Truth was, he wanted to be free to follow any leads on Emily’s whereabouts at a moment’s notice. Now that they’d started down this road, he was adamant he was going to follow the scent all the way to the bitter end. </p>
<p>On Monday afternoon, Neal headed out to the Chelsea district to meet with his contractor who was poised to introduce him to the interior designer he’d found to help decorate the gallery.</p>
<p>‘Jake, nice to see you again’ said Neal as he put out his hand to welcome the man.</p>
<p>‘Hey Neal’ the man said. ‘I’d like you to meet Nadia, the designer I told you about. She’d love to run a few ideas by you.’</p>
<p>‘Great!’ said Neal, introducing himself to the young woman.</p>
<p>She was young and beautiful, her long dark hair tucked in a loose chignon and her ‘brief’ dress, barely covering the essentials - a real artsy type. She smiled provocatively at Neal as she took his outstretched hand.</p>
<p>‘I’ve heard so much about you’ she fawned with a lingering look of Neal's many attributes.</p>
<p>Neal Caffrey had been on the receiving end of flirtatious looks from women of all ages his whole life and most times, it was gratifying to know he hadn’t lost his ability to turn heads. Although greying at the temples, he still had the stunning looks and charisma he’d always had and women reacted accordingly. </p>
<p>The young woman gently touched his arm and laughed coquettishly as she shared some preliminary ideas for the different areas of the gallery. He smiled politely, confident yet reserved. Despite her forward and slightly inappropriate behaviour, she appeared to be a very perceptive designer and he liked what she had to say. </p>
<p>The first floor of the gallery had been designed to house short term exhibits – no more than a month at a time – and to provide as many budding artists as possible with exposure they would normally not have. Neal would benefit from their names being associated with his gallery and of course, he would take a cut from any sales they made – the lesser known the artist, the bigger the cut. </p>
<p>The top floor, which housed a more intimate space, was destined to highlight more permanent exhibits, some of Neal’s work and plenty of pieces from Hope which he hoped would provide the spotlight she so richly deserved. </p>
<p>After exchanging a few design ideas, they parted ways with Nadia promising to get back to Neal by the end of the week with some more concrete suggestions.</p>
<p>He was about to leave when his phone rang.</p>
<p>‘Hey buddy!’ came Peter’s voice. ‘Guess what? We’ve got news from Arizona.’</p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Neal strolled into the White Collar Unit like he belonged there, which of course he did despite his less frequent visits as of late.</p>
<p>‘Caffrey!’ Diana called out, as he strutted in. </p>
<p>‘Hey Diana’ he replied as he gave her a brief peck on the cheek.</p>
<p>‘I didn’t know you were working a case with us?’ she said.</p>
<p>He shrugged, noncommittal. ’Just a little something ‘off the grid’ I’m working on with Peter’ he said mysteriously as he began to make his way up to Peter’s office.</p>
<p>‘Just like the old days, huh?’ said Diana, as she returned to the task at hand.</p>
<p>Peter was sitting in his office, deep in thought and staring at his computer screen when Neal burst in, without knocking.</p>
<p>‘Came as soon as I could’ he said, looking expectantly at Peter. ‘What have we got?’</p>
<p>‘Well, you’ll be glad to know the University of Arizona has come through with some very interesting information on Emily Ellis’ said his ex-handler.</p>
<p>Neal took a seat, visibly on tender hooks. ‘Well.... don’t keep me waiting.’</p>
<p>Peter pulled out a piece of paper, glancing at its contents. ’Emily studied at the University of Arizona for four years and completed a Bachelor of Arts in Education. She graduated with honours and proceeded to put her name on the availability list of teachers for the state of Arizona.’</p>
<p>‘Okay, and....’ said Neal, eager to hear more.</p>
<p>‘And… according to the Education State Board, she was hired right out of school to work in Tucson at an elementary school – Roosevelt Elementary School.’</p>
<p>‘That’s amazing Peter! Do we know if she’s still working for the school board?’</p>
<p>‘Unfortunately not.But she did work there for ten years and I’ve already put in a call to the principal of the school to see if they have any information on where she was headed when she left’ Peter added, looking might proud of himself.</p>
<p>‘So, you don’t think she just moved to another school somewhere else in Tucson or elsewhere in Arizona?’ Neal asked.</p>
<p>They were getting closer and he could hardly contain his excitement.</p>
<p>‘Not according to the State Board’s records. She stopped being an active member of the Arizona Teachers’ Federation when she quit working at Roosevelt which would indicate that she stopped teaching. At least in that state’ said Peter, handing over a copy of the information he had just shared with Neal.</p>
<p>Neal was having trouble containing himself.‘So, we go to Tucson’ he said, ready to hit the road.</p>
<p>‘Whoa, whoa there, Sundance. Let’s start by talking to the principal of the school on the phone, see if she knew Emily. Then we can decide what to do’ Peter said in an effort to harness Neal’s impulsive response.</p>
<p>Neal’s face dropped, disappointment obvious in his eyes. ’Peter, you’ve got to admit, if we hadn’t been in LA and San Diego in person, we never would have found out what we did. Running into Gus and Mrs. Moore would never have happened if we’d tried to do our digging from here.’ </p>
<p>Neal’s persuasion skills were still intact and he could talk himself and pretty well anyone else who was in the periphery into almost anything at any given time.</p>
<p>‘I don’t want to lose our momentum’ he argued, sitting on the edge of his seat. ‘We’ve already made so much progress, I don’t want to waste any time.’</p>
<p>‘Neal, she’s been missing for thirty-five years, a few days isn’t going to make any difference’ said Peter, as always the voice of reason.</p>
<p>Neal scoffed and followed it up with an exaggerated pout.</p>
<p>‘Look, one step at a time’ Peter said. ‘I agree, this is very encouraging news but we have to take our time and do this right.’</p>
<p>Neal let out a loud sigh. ‘Next thing you’ll be saying is you need more <em>proof</em>...’ he said, mocking Peter.</p>
<p>Peter shook his head, unamused. ‘Very funny, Neal.’</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>The buzzer sounded to mark the end of the first quarter. Neal sat in the bleachers and cheered as the team from Ridgemont Junior High returned to the bench for a team caucus. Liam’s team had taken an early lead of 18 to 14 – with eight of those points coming from none other than the man himself, Liam Caffrey, new recruit.</p>
<p>Sara arrived just as the buzzer sounded, having come straight from work and she awkwardly made her way up the bleachers towards her husband, climbing gingerly in her four inch heels and pencil skirt.Neal had long ago given up on challenging Sara’s sense of style and truth be told she always looked amazing but he couldn’t help but smile as he saw her struggling with her heel jammed between the metal slats of the makeshift bleachers. He stood to give her hand and with his help, she made it up the last few steps to where he’d been seated.</p>
<p>‘Did you have to sit at the very top?’ she grumbled as she finally took a seat.</p>
<p>Neal raised his eyebrows in response, letting her have her little hissy fit. He knew better than to get into any kind of argument with his wife when she was pissed off. The best solution was to wait her out and let her realize for herself that her complaint was totally unrelated to her real frustration, which in this case had been her poor choice of footwear for a school gym.</p>
<p>She came to her senses and put out her cheek. Neal obliged her with a quick peck.</p>
<p>‘So, who’s winning?’ she asked.</p>
<p>Except for whatever she’d learned from Neal over the years or from attending Liam’s sporting events, Sara knew nothing of sports – nor did she have any interest in learning. She would mix up the termsfrom one sport to the other, calling quarters periods or the ball drop a face-off and frankly, it was most endearing to know that the sole reason Sara Ellis would ever choose to sit in a stinky junior high gym was because she loved her son and enjoyed watching him thrive.</p>
<p>‘We’re winning and Liam already has four baskets’ said Neal, proudly.</p>
<p>‘Excellent! Did I just miss the first period?’ she asked.</p>
<p>‘Yeah… just the first period’ Neal replied, humouring her. He had long since given up on making a sports’ fan out of his wife. </p>
<p>‘So, how was your day?’ she asked.</p>
<p>‘Good… I met the designer Jake was talking about. I think she gets us. She’s going to submit some design ideas by the end of the week.’</p>
<p>His mind returned to the young woman who’d practically thrown herself at him and he felt mildly uncomfortable. Perhaps because she was young enough to be his daughter.</p>
<p>‘Tell you what’ he said as an idea began to form. ‘Why don’t you come along when I meet her next time? That way we can both weigh in.’</p>
<p>There was nothing like having your loving wife along if you wanted to tamp down the unwanted advances of a pretty young thing. </p>
<p>‘Sure!’ said Sara as her mind moved on to another subject. ‘You know, we have to get a move-on if we want to finalize plans for your birthday dinner. It’s just three weeks away.’</p>
<p>Neal shrugged. He wasn’t keen on making a fuss now that he’d passed the fifty year mark. ’Just a quiet family dinner. I don’t want anything elaborate, okay?’ he said as the game resumed.</p>
<p>Sara wasn’t done having fun at his expense. ‘But honey’ she said, rubbing it in. ‘It’s not every day you turn fifty-two.’</p>
<p>‘Oh yeah?’ he replied, prepared to give as well as he got. ‘We’ll see how you feel about it when we celebrate your fiftieth in a couple of years’ he teased, poking her gently in the ribs with his elbow.</p>
<p>Sara giggled and tried to poke him back which brought on a playful fit of laughter that ended with a warm hug. They could see Liam, sitting on the bench, smiling up at them, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.</p>
<p>The game ended, a decisive victory as Liam led his team to a 42-36 win. Sara and Neal waited in the school lobby as their son came out of the locker room wearing a rather garish neon green track suit.</p>
<p>‘What the heck?...’ said Neal as he looked his son up and down.</p>
<p>Liam kept his eyes down, thoroughly embarrassed. ‘Apparently it’s some sort of ritual when the team votes you player of the game’ he said, eager to make his getaway before he was teased any more by his teammates. ‘Can I get something to eat, I’m starved.’</p>
<p>‘We’re headed home for dinner Shaq’ Neal teased as he brought his arm around his son’s neck. ‘You think maybe you can hang on for another twenty minutes?’</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>‘So, if I understood your vision correctly Mr. Caffrey, this is what I would suggest for the first floor’ said Nadia, as she pointed to the plans she had spread out on the table in front of them.</p>
<p>She leaned in, pressing her breasts together as they practically popped out of the top of her dress. Neal averted his eyes, trying his best to concentrate on the plans. She touched his arm lightly and looked up, smiling coyly at him and fluttering her eyelashes as she spoke.</p>
<p>‘What do you think?’ she mewled.</p>
<p>In turn, Neal grinned widely at his wife as she stood by, keeping her cool as she always did whenever women fawned over her husband – something she’d long ago gotten used to.</p>
<p>‘What do <em>you</em> think, darling?’ Neal asked, wrapping his arm proprietarily around Sara’s waist. He’d never called her ‘darling’ in his life, finding the term so very Doris Day/Rock Hudson. It didn’t take long for Sara to figure out what was going on. She looked up at Neal, all dewy eyed and smiled back wanly.</p>
<p>‘Oh Poopsie, I love it!’ she enthused as Neal’s eyes grew in surprise. It took all his restraint not to burst out laughing. Instead he squeezed her and returned his eyes to the plans.</p>
<p>‘Do you think the taupe will be too dark honey cakes? he countered, getting into the act.</p>
<p>Sara ran her hand down his cheek and gave him a playful tap on the chest. She turned to address the young designer.</p>
<p>‘My big daddy…’ she said coquettishly. ‘…he <em>does</em> love drama.'</p>
<p>The young woman stood back and nodded, uncomfortable with the spectacle before her.</p>
<p>‘Why don’t I leave you with all this and we can touch base early next week… see if you want to go ahead with some of these ideas.’</p>
<p>Neal grinned back, his perfect teeth gleaming. ‘Sounds good’ he said as Nadia nodded politely and packed up her things. It seemed she couldn’t get out of there fast enough.</p>
<p>The couple watched her leave. ‘I think my blood sugar levels just went through the roof’ Sara said as she untangled herself from Neal’s grasp.</p>
<p>He chuckled. ‘Maybe a heads up next time’ she said, giving him the evil eye.</p>
<p>‘What? And miss out on watching you squirm.’</p>
<p>Sara shook her head in disbelief. ’See you at home… Snookums’ she said before taking her leave.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>Neal headed back to White Plains for another of his clandestine meetings with Peter. He was chomping at the bit to move on to the next phase of their little subterfuge. They settled around a cup of good old Italian Roast and promptly got down to business.</p>
<p>‘Well, I had an interesting chat with Ms. Worthington, the school principal’ Peter said.</p>
<p>‘By interesting, I'm hoping you mean fruitful’ Neal countered expectantly.</p>
<p>‘Well, not exactly. Let’s just say the lady is a stickler for rules and she doesn’t seem inclined to bending any of them. She’s only been at the school for five years.’</p>
<p>Neal sighed.</p>
<p>'She did confirm however that Emily Ellis worked at the school for a total of ten years’ Peter continued. ‘She taught third and fourth grade and she left thirteen years ago.’</p>
<p>‘So she didn’t know Emily?’</p>
<p>‘Not personally. And when I asked if we could talk to any of the staff who might remember her, she flat out told me that if I wanted her cooperation, she would appreciate a warrant to that effect.’</p>
<p>‘Lovely’ Neal said sarcastically. ‘Do you think she’s purposefully hiding anything?’</p>
<p>‘Nah, I doubt it. She struck me as one of those <em>by the book people </em>who can’t be bothered to help anyone out unless they’re forced to.’</p>
<p>‘So, what do we do now?’ Neal asked.</p>
<p>‘I hate to admit it, but we might have to go down to Tucson ourselves and do some digging. Ten years is a long time to live in a community. Emily must have had friends, interests, hobbies. I did get Emily’s latest home address from the principal but even that was like pulling teeth— ’</p>
<p>He was interrupted by the front door opening.</p>
<p>‘Sweet cheeks, you home?’ came Sara’s voice from the front door.</p>
<p>Peter looked at Neal, his eyes growing in surprise. ‘Sweet cheeks?’ he murmured with a frown.</p>
<p>Neal waved him off with a chuckle.</p>
<p>‘We’re in the kitchen babe’ he called out as he stood and turned to look at Peter. ’To be continued...’</p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The flight to Tucson was long and painfully boring. Neal and Peter were flying economy and that made the whole exercise even more painful and boring. It was the last week of September and the weather was still summer like in New York. It had been a little trickier to leave their wives this time as both men had had to endure the third degree – especially Peter.</p>
<p>‘Honey, I just don’t get it’ said Elizabeth as Peter finished packing his bag. ‘You’re just a few weeks from retiring. Can’t someone else take on this case instead of you?’</p>
<p>‘El, I would really love to get this guy before I leave’ Peter said as he rolled up a couple of shirts and tried to avoid her penetrating gaze.</p>
<p>‘I’ve never even heard you talk about this guy. What’s his name anyway?’</p>
<p>‘What’s the difference what his name is, El? This is just something I need to do, that’s all’ Peter insisted, continuing to be evasive.</p>
<p>‘But… is this case dangerous?’</p>
<p>‘No honey, I don’t think so. And I’ve got Neal as backup. It’s all good. And at this point, it’s basically recon, trying to figure out what this guy’s up to. Just trust me, okay?’ he said as he walked over and put his arms around her, a means of distraction if nothing else.</p>
<p>When it came to the cases he’d worked over the years, Peter had had to exercise discretion on more than one occasion. But Elizabeth was curious by nature and she often pushed for details, especially after the case he’d worked with Jill Stone, his ex from Quantico. Peter had been secretive and it had really rubbed El the wrong way. He’d also been known to keep her out of the loop whenever he knew she’d worry - like when he and Neal had gone after Matthew Keller. Regardless, discretion was an important part of his job and Elizabeth knew it.</p>
<p>In this case however, Peter knew he was on thin ice. When the truth finally came out about his reason for being so secretive, Elizabeth would be none too pleased. But Neal was right; if he shared the details of his current mission with her, it was only a matter of hours if not minutes before she reported everything to Sara. And he had promised Neal to keep his secret... at least for now.</p>
<p>Elizabeth pouted as she pulled out of his arms. ’Well I don’t have to like it’ she said. ‘When will you be back?’</p>
<p>He zipped up his bag, eager to get away from her persistent questions. ’By Saturday at the latest’ he said.</p>
<p>Neal, on the other hand, had managed to slip under the radar a little more easily. Sara had been preoccupied by some big case at work and her mind had been a little less focussed on getting details of the trip from Neal. So far the cover story, that he was helping Peter with one last case, was holding water and although she’d been disappointed to learn he wouldn’t be home in time for their Friday family dinner out, she nevertheless gave Neal a loving and enthusiastic send-off on the night before he left and agreed to pick him up at the airport when he returned sometime Saturday. </p>
<p>The weather was hot but thankfully dry as the men descended from the plane at Tucson International Airport. It was early afternoon, two hours earlier than in New York and the men decided to rent a car and head over to the address the school’s principal had provided. Of course, it had been thirteen years since Emily had moved out of that apartment but one never knew. They’d already hit pay dirt twice by showing up in person and asking questions, maybe their luck would hold out once more.</p>
<p>The building at 1488 Moodie Drive was a high rise located in a nice middle class neighbourhood and they began their investigation by knocking on the rental office door to confirm that Emily Ellis had indeed lived in the building. Peter’s badge went a long way when it came to getting information; most people didn’t question why an FBI agent would be asking questions (any question) when they saw the badge appear before their eyes. The young woman in the rental office was no exception and she gladly confirmed that Emily had indeed been a tenant in the building for a period of six years – the last six years she’d lived in Tucson.</p>
<p>Peter and Neal proceeded to the fifth floor, easily locating apartment 508 where Emily had lived all those years ago. They knocked, crossing their fingers; maybe the current tenant would remember something about the woman who had lived there thirteen years before.</p>
<p>The door opened and a young woman stood before them. She had dark hair and clear blue eyes and Neal was instantly reminded of Hope, his heart tightening at the thought of his daughter so many miles away. The young girl explained that her mom was out but that they’d only moved in three years earlier and that she’d never heard of anyone named Emily Ellis. </p>
<p>Neal and Peter thanked her and were on the way to the elevator when the door to apartment 507, across the hall, opened slowly and an elderly woman holding a beautiful calico cat in her arms, peeked out.</p>
<p>‘Excuse me’ she said tentatively as Neal and Peter turned back towards the sound of her voice. ’Are you looking for Emily Ellis?’</p>
<p>Peter and Neal exchanged curious looks – it appeared their luck hadn’t run out after all.</p>
<p>‘Yes, we are’ said Peter, one again flashing his badge.</p>
<p>‘Has she done anything wrong?’ asked the woman, visibly nervous.</p>
<p>‘No, ma’am, she hasn’t done anything wrong. Would you have a minute to talk to us?’</p>
<p>Within five minutes, they were seated in front of a nice hot cup of coffee as the woman, Miss Cummings, began to share her recollections of Emily.</p>
<p>‘She lived here for about five years’ she said. ‘She was a teacher at Roosevelt Elementary School up the street and she shared the apartment with another teacher she worked with, Katherine Baker. Katherine still teaches there as far as I know. I saw her about a month ago, on a field trip with her class at the library.’</p>
<p>‘They were both really nice women’ she continued undeterred. ‘Emily was a beautiful young woman, dark blond hair with a nice smile although I always thought she looked rather sad about something. I never could quite put my finger on it. Katherine moved in here after her divorce, I’m not sure if Emily had ever been married. She did date from time to time but no one really serious until just before she moved out.’</p>
<p>Peter and Neal listened with interest. This woman was a goldmine of information - someone who was very helpful in a situation such as this but who might be a bit of a nightmare to have as a neighbour. She seemed to know an awful lot about pretty well all the tenants in the building. She was only too happy to share that Mr. Elliot in 509 was a heavy drinker and that the couple in 503 were having domestic problems. She also knew that Mrs. Dennison in 304 went out every Thursday afternoon to the local casino and she suspected that the new young guy in 408 was gay.</p>
<p>‘Do you remember why Emily moved out?’ asked Neal, trying to keep the woman on topic.</p>
<p>‘She moved out of the city, that I remember and Katherine got a smaller apartment somewhere not too far from here. I’m not sure why but I think Emily’s leaving might have had something to do with that young man she was seeing at the time. He would come over sometimes on Saturdays. He had a little girl but I don’t like to pry so I don’t know much else. Loosely translated: <em>I did my best to find out all I could but they kept me out of the loop.</em></p>
<p>She was on a roll and Neal and Peter could see that, if they allowed her to continue, they would be there for a long time listening to the lonely woman’s unfettered gossip. After twenty minutes or so of her constant chatter, they thanked her politely for the coffee and the information and tore themselves away, claiming to have an impending meeting elsewhere.</p>
<p>‘All right... the neighbour from hell’ said Neal as they climbed into the car.</p>
<p>‘Well, at least we know where we can come for all our neighbourhood gossip needs...’ added Peter as he began to navigate towards the local elementary school.</p>
<p>It was just past three thirty and, with any luck, school would be letting out soon. Maybe they’d get lucky and Katherine Baker would agree to have a friendly chat with them. They could see a number of school buses lined up in front of the school as they rounded the corner. Children had begun to spill out of school and some were scrambling to get to their bus while others began the long trek home on foot. Peter found a parking spot near the entrance to the school and spotted a woman, ostensibly one of the teachers, directing traffic and sending the children off in various directions with wishes for a good evening.</p>
<p>‘Excuse me’ said Peter as he and Neal approached the woman.</p>
<p>The woman looked up, somewhat tentative. Seeing two unidentified men outside a school with hundreds of vulnerable young children around sent alarm bells and Peter and Neal could see the hesitation in her eyes. Peter didn’t waste any time flashing his badge, hoping to reassure her that they were not some random men stalking children in a school yard.</p>
<p>‘We’re looking for Katherine Baker. Does she teach at this school?’ asked Peter.</p>
<p>‘Yeah, sure. She teaches grade five but she’s off sick today. She should be back tomorrow’ said the woman as she continued to keep one eye on the children.</p>
<p>‘Do you happen to know where Ms. Baker lives?’ asked Peter, hoping for one more piece of the puzzle.</p>
<p>The woman shrugged. ‘Sorry I don’t and Ms Worthington is out at a meeting’ she added, in reference to the school principal. ‘I really think you should come back tomorrow and speak with her then.’</p>
<p>Neal and Peter thanked her and reluctantly agreed they had probably come to the end of the line as far as what could be accomplished for the day. A quick internet search for an address for K. Baker turned up nothing and Peter was hesitant to go to the local police, considering he didn’t have any personal contacts there. Despite Neal’s eagerness to keep pushing, Peter convinced him to take a break, go out for a nice dinner and strategize in preparation for the next day. If they were going to have any chance at all of approaching Katherine Baker, they would have to make nice with the ‘not-so-helpful’ Ms Worthington.</p>
<p>Over steaks and fries, they agreed that Neal’s special talents were probably the way to go. Perhaps Ms Worthington would respond more favourably to Neal’s charisma than she had to the strong arm of the law. They found a local hotel and settled in for the night, both checking in with their respective wives to make sure all was good on the home front. </p>
<p>Neal lay in bed and thought once again of the possible outcomes of this seemingly unending pursuit. If all went well, Sara could be reunited with her sister by Christmas but... there were still so many buts. Not the least of which was Neal’s nagging question about why Emily had never reached out to Sara – or had she? Sara had studied at Brown and had moved to New York when she’d been barely twenty-one. Had Emily tried to find her over the years? Did Emily<em> want </em>to be found? And if they did eventually find her, would she be happy at the prospect of reuniting with her kid sister? All these questions strengthened his resolve. One way or the other, he needed answers and more importantly Sara deserved to know the truth.</p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Thursday morning dawned bright and clear in Tucson... and in White Plains, New York.</p>
<p>Sara woke to the sound of the kids arguing about the bathroom and realized that somehow, she had slept through the alarm. Neal was the early riser in their coupling and without him to nudge her when the alarm went off, she had turned over and gone back to sleep. Damn! She had an 8:30 meeting and it was almost seven already – and now, the kids were fighting.</p>
<p>‘Guys, please!’ she called out from her bedroom as she rolled out of bed, barely avoiding the dog at her feet.</p>
<p>‘Mom, it’s not fair! She always gets to the bathroom first’ Liam whined as he stood in the doorway to Sara’s room.</p>
<p>‘Liam, please! You’re almost twelve years old, do you think maybe you can talk to each other and work things out without it becoming a major production?’ </p>
<p>As always, Sara was quick to snap and most often, when she did, it had nothing to do with the situation at hand but was because of something else altogether. Having slept through the alarm had her majorly pissed off and now, her son was getting the brunt of her anger and frustration.</p>
<p>On the other side of the country, Neal had been awake since five. With the time change and his mind busy figuring an in to Katherine Baker’s classroom, he just couldn’t get back to sleep. Peter’s snoring and the constant drip emanating from the leaky faucet in the bathroom hadn’t helped either. By six o’clock, he was up and in the shower and, seeing Peter was still dead to the world, he slipped down to the lobby where he picked up a newspaper and a cup of coffee.</p>
<p>Which is exactly where Peter found him when he finally made his way down a little after 8:00.</p>
<p>‘Good morning Rip Van Winkle’ Neal shouted out as he spotted Peter coming into the lobby.</p>
<p>‘Wow, that bed was comfortable!’ said Peter as he grabbed a coffee and sat down next to Neal. ‘So, any thoughts on getting in to the school to talk to Katherine Baker?’</p>
<p>‘I’ve got a few ideas...’ said Neal mysteriously. ‘From what you said about the principal, we definitely don’t want to go in with all guns blazing – or in this case, badges flashing.’</p>
<p>‘I agree, so what’s our best bet?’</p>
<p>After all these years, Peter deferred to Neal when it came to subterfuge. He knew Neal never had any shortage of ideas when it came to approaching people. On any given operation, Neal was definitely the one Peter turned to when he needed to schmooze his way in somewhere and Neal rarely disappointed. Over the years, he’d managed to get them into the most unlikely of places using the thinnest stories Peter had ever heard. He often wondered why people were so gullible but he realized that most people just looked at Neal’s deep blue eyes and were only half listening to what he was saying anyway.</p>
<p>‘Well, recess is at 10:15 so I thought I’d get there just a few minutes before and ask to see her because of a family emergency.’</p>
<p>‘What.... family emergency?’ asked Peter, intrigued.</p>
<p>‘Does it matter?’ said Neal, raising his eyebrows in that overconfident way Peter hated.</p>
<p>‘I guess not.’</p>
<p>Neal could get the job done no matter what cover story he used. They agreed that he’d go in alone and ask to see Ms. Baker using his cover and then he would briefly explain the real purpose of his visit and ask her to meet them later in the day. One hurdle remained. If Roosevelt Elementary School was anything like every other school in America, he would be intercepted before he even entered and he’d be sent to report to the office or directly to the principal. Getting past her would be his first challenge.</p>
<p>By ten o’clock, the two of them sat in their rental car, checking out the school from a safe distance.</p>
<p>‘It’s show time’ said Neal finally. ‘Wish me luck!’</p>
<p>He made his way to the main door of the school, noticing the camera which recorded everyone’s arrival and he rang the bell as he took a deep breath. Cons were easy when they were well planned but this time around, the stakes were personal and he had a lot to lose. He really didn’t want to mess things up. He knew the woman who had shared an apartment with Emily Ellis would likely have a lot to say about her and having an opportunity to chat with her was critical to their investigation.</p>
<p>Instead of the door clicking open, a young woman appeared and looked Neal over before opening the door to speak to him. He had chosen to wear a suit in order to give the impression he was coming from work and he gave the woman a weak smile as he took on the persona he had concocted that morning.</p>
<p>‘Can I help you, sir?’ said the young woman.</p>
<p>‘Hi, I’m Aaron Baker. My sister teaches here. She teaches grade five. I need to talk to her – we have a family emergency.’ </p>
<p>Neal projected a look of anxiety, his voice tight, speaking as if he was in distress. He wrung his hands obsessively and the young woman stepped aside and invited him to follow her inside.</p>
<p>‘Ms. Worthington, our principal… she insists on meeting everyone before letting them roam around the school. You understand…'</p>
<p>‘Of course’ Neal said as he followed her to the nearby office.</p>
<p>Ms. Worthington looked up as her secretary walked in and introduced Neal. As he’d imagined from Peter’s description, she had a matronly look and a stern gaze, probably from years of being conned by six to twelve year olds. She did not look amused to have been interrupted. Neal did a quick survey of her office: excessively tidy, large bouquet of artificial flowers on her desk, one lone photograph on her sideboard - not a husband or children but an elderly couple, the woman an older version of the one who sat directly in front of him.</p>
<p>Neal knew that just as the best cons had an element of truth, they exploited people’s weaknesses or interests and he instantly went with his gut feeling.</p>
<p>‘I’m so sorry to barge in’ he said, with fake humility.</p>
<p>He took in a shaky breath, conveying his anguish. ‘I’m Katherine Baker’s brother and I just got a call at work that our father’s been taken to hospital after a terrible fall.’</p>
<p>He paused for dramatic effect and to gauge her reaction. Her eyebrows narrowed and her lips pursed and he knew he had her.</p>
<p>‘They don’t think he’s going to make it’ he said, his voice faltering. ‘I didn’t want to text Katherine…’</p>
<p>‘Of course not’ she said.</p>
<p>His voice faltered once more as he attempted to stifle a sob. ‘We’re really close to our parents’ he added for good measure.</p>
<p>He noticed the woman glancing at the photograph nearby. ‘Oh dear’ she said, warming up to the lie. ‘I know just how important our parents are to us.’</p>
<p>She seemed to do a one eighty, her demeanour completely changing as she got to her feet. She smiled warmly at Neal and took his arm. </p>
<p>‘I’ll have my secretary walk you over to her class. Recess is in five minutes anyway. I’m so sorry about your father’ she said as Neal nodded appreciatively.</p>
<p>‘Thank you, thank you so much’ he said, shaking her hand and turning towards the door.</p>
<p>The grade five classroom was the last one down a long hall and they arrived just as the bell rang and children spilled out on their way to recess. The young woman who’d accompanied Neal popped her head in the classroom and Neal spotted a pretty blond woman in her mid forties with a tidy haircut and a pair of cool pink rimmed glasses, gathering things from a cluttered large oak desk.</p>
<p>‘Miss Baker? Your brother is here to see you. Your father’s been taken ill’ said the young secretary as she turned to leave.</p>
<p>Katherine looked up at Neal and hesitated for a moment as he took a few tentative steps towards her. She raised her hand, silently asking him not to get any closer and he noticed her reaching for something under the edge of her desk.</p>
<p>She looked him squarely in the eye.</p>
<p>’All right…’ she said, her voice surprisingly calm. ‘My dad died twelve years ago and I’m an only child. So you have exactly ten seconds to tell me who the hell you are and what you want before I press this emergency button.'</p>
<p>Neal stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the woman, lifting his arms up in surrender. He instantly liked her chutzpah and he immediately dropped the act, smiling tentatively as he spoke.</p>
<p>‘My name is Neal Caffrey and my wife is Sara Ellis. Her sister is Emily Ellis and I’m on a mission to find Emily and help them reunite.’ </p>
<p>The woman’s mouth dropped open and her hand fell to her side. Neal took out a picture of himself with Sara and flashed it at the teacher who looked up at it and smiled faintly as she observed the resemblance with her old friend.</p>
<p>‘All right, let’s say I believe you. What do you want?’</p>
<p>Neal let out a shaky breath, no pretence this time. ’I’d like to sit and talk to you about Emily if I could. I have a lot of questions.’</p>
<p>She looked him up and down, ostensibly trying to make up her mind about his sincerity. After a moment, she spoke.</p>
<p>‘I suppose I could meet you at the coffee shop down the street at lunchtime’ she said as Neal relaxed.'But I’ve only got about thirty minutes.’</p>
<p>Neal’s smile broadened. ’That’s all I ask. I’ll meet you there with my partner.’</p>
<p>‘Partner?’ she repeated.</p>
<p>‘I promise I’ll explain everything when we see you. Thank you, thank you so much’ Neal said as he stepped away, making his way out of the classroom and back to the car where Peter was waiting anxiously.</p>
<p>‘So?’ he asked as Neal stepped into the car.</p>
<p>‘She’s going to meet us at noon at the coffee shop up the street’ said Neal, relieved.</p>
<p>Peter scoffed, impressed. ‘I don’t even want to know…’ he said as turned the key in the ignition and drove away.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>Liam sat in class and meekly raised his hand, asking to be excused. It was becoming downright embarrassing. It was only 11:00 and this was the third time he needed to go to the bathroom. He’d noticed lately that he had to go to the toilet every hour and he felt self-conscious about it. Even Will had started to tease him, calling him the ‘anti-camel’ and Liam hated to be the centre of attention. He made his way to the bathroom, dragging his heels. He was tired all the time and the thought of having to go to basketball practice at lunchtime didn’t have its usual appeal. On the way back to class, he passed the soda machine and for the second time today, he popped some coins in and grabbed a bottle of water.</p>
<p>He was enjoying junior high and he’d made a few new friends but like every other pre-teen boy on the planet, all Liam Caffrey wanted was to blend in and not be different from his friends in any way. He made his way back to class and took his seat.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>The door to the coffee shop opened and in walked Katherine Baker. She was a pretty woman, her blonde hair styled in a blunt cut and her pencil skirt and silk blouse giving her a definite sense of style. She’d taken off the funky glasses, revealing pretty blue eyes that twinkled when her lips began to curl. She walked purposefully towards Neal, eyeing the older man sitting next to him and she slid across from them in the booth they had taken towards the back of the coffee shop. She noticed a coffee mug sitting in front of her as she sat.</p>
<p>‘Hope you like coffee’ said Neal, smiling at her.</p>
<p>‘I do, thanks’ she said, grabbing for the sugar bowl as she spoke.</p>
<p>‘Katherine, this is my partner, Peter Burke. He works for the FBI and so do I… part-time.’</p>
<p>‘The FBI?’ she repeated, sounding somewhat alarmed. ‘What is this all about?’</p>
<p>Neal regretted his words. He shook his head. ‘No, no, this has nothing to do with the FBI, per se’ he hastened to add. ‘Peter’s my best friend and he’s helping me find Emily. Look, I want to apologize for the sneaky way I approached you this morning. I needed to get you alone for a minute and…’</p>
<p>She nodded and began to relax. ‘We tried to look you up to call you but we couldn’t get a number for you’ Peter explained.</p>
<p>‘My number is still under my married name, Collins’ she said. ‘For some reason, I never had that changed.’</p>
<p>‘Is your wife really Emily’s sister?’ she asked.</p>
<p>Neal smiled. ‘She is. She’s Emily’s younger sister. When Emily was sixteen, she left home suddenly and Sara never heard from her again.’</p>
<p>The woman listened but did not seem surprised at what Neal had just said. </p>
<p>‘That was 35 years ago’ Neal continued. ‘Sara and I have been together for almost twenty years and every August, I hold her in my arms while she cries for her sister. She doesn’t know I’m doing this and I hope it doesn’t end in heartbreak, but I can’t stand to see my wife devastated, not knowing what happened or if her sister is dead or alive.’</p>
<p>Katherine looked at him thoughtfully. ‘What is it you want to know?’</p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The waitress returned and filled up the trio’s coffee cups as they settled in and began to chat.</p>
<p>‘Emily and I were friends and roommates for five years’ Katherine began. ‘We taught together at the school and we lived over on Moodie Drive not far from here.’</p>
<p>‘We did have the pleasure of meeting Miss Cummings in apartment 507’ said Neal smiling wryly.</p>
<p>‘Ah, Miss Cummings or as we liked to call her ‘<em>Miss Mind your own business</em>’ Katherine said with a grin.</p>
<p>‘Yeah, we kind of got that vibe’ chuckled Peter. ‘On the plus side, she did remember an awful lot about the years you spent there with Emily. And she did help lead us to you.’</p>
<p>‘Well, I’m not surprised. Emily had been teaching at Roosevelt for a few years when I came along. I had just started teaching at the school and my marriage was breaking up and so we decided to share a place – you know, teacher’s salary and all.’</p>
<p>Neal listened intently as the woman spoke. She had a candour and openness he admired and he felt confident that she could shed some light on the ten years Emily had spent in Tucson.</p>
<p>‘Emily and I became really close. We shared a lot about our lives and our pasts. I had a really happy childhood. I was an only child and my parents doted on me. My father passed away several years ago but I’m still really close to my mom who lives here in the city. Emily envied the closeness I’d had with my parents and she spoke about her family life with sadness and bitterness. She told me how she’d had a really difficult relationship with her parents. The only good thing about her life growing up was her relationship with her little sister.’</p>
<p>Neal thought back to the many conversations he’d had with Sara about her childhood. Her parents had been demanding and authoritarian and her dad in particular had been emotionally distant and cold. When they’d first gotten together, Sara had been standoffish and aloof herself and over time, she’d explained to Neal that she’d been raised that way – to be detached and remote and not show her emotions. Where Sara had seemingly integrated those traits and continued to fight them on a daily basis, Emily had outright rejected them, choosing instead to run away. Sara had always credited Neal with bringing out her caring, nurturing side and she was thankful he’d been able to see past her cold exterior to the compassionate person that was underneath.</p>
<p>‘Her father, especially, was cold and domineering and Emily used to tell me how insensitive he was. She, on the other hand was a warm and loving person and she couldn’t live in an environment like that. She told me how, at sixteen, they had a major blowup and she couldn’t take it anymore. She decided to leave without a trace so she could get away from them.’</p>
<p>Peter interjected. ‘We found out she had a rough time when she first moved away.’</p>
<p>‘Yes’ said Katherine. ‘She took a one way bus ticket across the country and ended up in LA without a penny. Emily wasn’t very proud of her time there. She fell in with a bad crowd and worked as a dancer at a bar.’</p>
<p>‘We visited that bar’ said Neal quietly. ‘And we met a really nice man who remembered her. He was able to tell us about her time there.’</p>
<p>‘Gus?’ asked Katherine.</p>
<p>‘Yes, Gus’ said Neal, surprised.</p>
<p>‘She used to talk about him. He had kept her sane while she worked at the bar. He would look out for her and make sure she was safe. Emily said he’d tried to keep her from falling into drugs but the attraction was just too strong. She needed an escape and she began using and dating this drug dealer – I forget his name...’</p>
<p>‘Paul Baxter’ said Peter, remembering their conversation with Gus.</p>
<p>‘That’s it’ continued Katherine. ‘And she ended up moving to San Diego with him. He abused her both physically and mentally and after a while, she got away from him with some help from the landlady of the place they lived in.’</p>
<p>‘Mrs. Moore’ said Neal as all the pieces began to fall into place.</p>
<p>‘Yeah... you guys have really done your homework’ said Katherine.</p>
<p>‘She’s the one who pointed us in this direction’ said Neal. ‘She told us Emily had gotten clean and had decided to go back to school.’</p>
<p>‘Well, Emily was very thankful to Mrs. Moore for her support. If it hadn’t been for her, Emily used to say she would have ended up dead at age thirty.’</p>
<p>Neal nodded in agreement.</p>
<p>‘So, Emily came here and went to Arizona State and got her teaching degree. We met up a few years later when I came to Roosevelt.She’d already been here a few years, teaching. We liked each other immediately. I was still with my husband but within a year, our marriage fell apart and Emily and I decided to take a place together.’</p>
<p>The memories were obviously happy ones and Neal could see a smile creeping into Katherine’s eyes as she spoke.</p>
<p>‘Did she ever talk about Sara?’ he asked.</p>
<p>‘All the time’ Katherine replied without hesitation. ‘She loved her sister so much and she was afraid that Sara had become cold and heartless like their parents. She tried to find out where she was. She even had me call the house once and talk to her mother, saying I was a friend of Sara’s and asking for her. Her mom told me Sara was away at school and then we heard she’d moved to New York. That’s all we were ever able to find out. Emily would wonder if her sister was safe and if she was happy.Every year on Sara’s birthday, I would sit with her and hold her hand while she cried and told me another happy memory of the time they had together. She told me how they’d gone to England the summer before she left. They had really bonded and she wondered if she should have taken Sara with her when she ran away. But Sara was a twelve-year-old kid and Emily was in no position to take care of her.’</p>
<p>Neal nodded, thinking back to an almost identical conversation he’d had with Sara concerning their trip abroad that summer. Sara idolized Emily and after bonding during that trip, she couldn’t understand how her sister had left her behind. The timing of her departure had been particularly difficult for Sara who’d continued to blame herself, somehow, for Emily leaving.</p>
<p>‘Emily tried to be happy and she did manage to some degree but… well, there was always this sadness about her that never seemed to go away. Even when things were going well for her, there was always sorrow and despair in her eyes – a hole in her heart. She used to tell me that hole was Sara.’</p>
<p>Neal felt a lump forming in his throat. ’Why didn’t she try harder to find her?’ he asked.</p>
<p>‘It was a push, pull thing, you know... She would make a few attempts to find out where she was but then she would worry that Sara would be disappointed in her or angry at her for leaving and that she wouldn’t welcome her back. She knew Sara was distraught when she left and frankly, she was embarrassed by what she had done since she’d left home. She just kept hoping that Sara was happy and safe somewhere.’</p>
<p>She stopped and looked into Neal’s eyes. ‘Is she? Happy I mean?’</p>
<p>‘She is’ he replied with a fond smile. 'She’s an amazing woman. When I met her, more than twenty years ago, she <em>was </em>aloof and cold. She was working 70 hours a week at trying to forget her past and it took me a long time to break through and find the real woman inside. But it was worth it. She’s still strong and determined but she’s also funny, loving and caring and she’s an amazing wife and a wonderful mother.’</p>
<p>‘Mother?’ echoed Katherine.</p>
<p>He nodded. ’Yeah, we have two children’ he said proudly, reaching into his pocket to pull out some photographs. ‘This is our daughter Hope, she’s sixteen and she’s an amazing artist and our son, Liam, he loves sports. He’s eleven.’ </p>
<p>Neal was beaming as he spoke. ‘And Sara works for an insurance company doing recovery. I’m really proud of her. She’s the best thing that ever happened to me and we’re very happy. We live in White Plains, in New York and we both work there and our kids go to school there.’</p>
<p>Peter looked over at his friend. ‘Let’s just say, Sara and Neal complement each other very well’ he added, touching Neal gently on the shoulder.</p>
<p>‘So, what happened? Why did Emily leave Tucson?’ Neal asked.</p>
<p>‘Ah, now that’s the fairy tale part of the story’ said Katherine. ’A little girl came to Emily’s class a few years back. Her name was Sophie. She was a lovely little girl who was being raised by her single dad.Over time, Emily and Mike began seeing each other and within a year, he asked her to move away with him. He was an engineer for the Canadian government and he had been working on a project here for ten years. The project ended and he had to return to Ottawa where he’d been based. Emily packed up and followed him and they were married the following year.’</p>
<p>Neal smiled at the thought of Emily having a happy ending. Or was it an ending, he wondered. He thought back to one of Mozzie’s favourite Orson Wells quotes <em>‘If you want a happy ending that depends on where you stop the story’</em> and he knew that the story didn’t end there.</p>
<p>‘Did you keep in touch?’ he asked, hopeful.</p>
<p>‘We did, for about five years. I visited her a couple of times in Ottawa. They had a beautiful home and she was very happy. Mike was a wonderful, loving husband and Emily helped raise Sophie who would be in her twenties by now.’</p>
<p>‘What can you tell us about this Mike?’ asked Peter.</p>
<p>‘Mike Foster. He’s Canadian born and raised. He worked as a civil engineer for the Canadian government and travelled quite a bit. Actually, his ten years in Tucson was the longest he ever stayed anywhere. He was a little older that Emily and his wife had died when Sophie was five years old. By the time he met Emily, he was coming out of his grief and ready for a new relationship. Sparks flew almost immediately between them and Emily felt she was the luckiest woman in the world.’</p>
<p>‘I was at their wedding twelve years ago, in Ottawa. Emily was so happy. She enjoyed living there, liked the pace.She rediscovered the arts and began painting in her spare time. She didn’t get a job though, not while I was in touch with her.’</p>
<p>Neal smiled at the thought that Emily shared a love of the arts, like her sister and her niece.</p>
<p>‘When was the last time you heard from her?’ asked Peter.</p>
<p>‘Hum... maybe seven, eight years ago. Then, a couple of years back, I got nostalgic and tried to contact her again at the number I had but they’d moved away. Mike had been sent to Europe somewhere but I have no idea where so I let it go.’</p>
<p>Katherine’s eyes filled with tears at the memory of her friend.</p>
<p>‘You know, I hadn’t thought of Emily in a while. I would love to get in touch with her. Will you let me know if you find her?’</p>
<p>‘Of course’ said Neal, taking out a piece of paper and pen for Katherine to write on.</p>
<p>‘Thank you, Ms. Baker’ said Peter. ‘You’ve helped a lot. We’re going to continue looking and hopefully, we’ll find her and bring her home to her sister.’</p>
<p>Neal stood to say goodbye and instinctively reached out and hugged Katherine as she responded in kind.</p>
<p>‘Good luck’ she said, before leaving. ‘I really hope you find her.’</p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The men drove back to the hotel in silence. They had an awful lot of new information to process. Luckily, Peter had had the presence of mind to take notes while they chatted with Katherine Baker and he’d jotted down all of the pertinent details she'd shared with them.</p>
<p>When they arrived at their hotel room, it was mid-afternoon and after discussion, they both agreed they weren’t likely to be getting more information in Tucson. Katherine had provided them with a wealth of details and names and they had some new and promising leads to help them continue on their search. They had now managed to account for about twenty-eight of the thirty-five years Emily had been missing. There remained the last seven or so years and they knew that, for now at least, the trail went dry after those five or so years in Ottawa.</p>
<p>Peter could tell Neal wanted to jump on a plane and head to Canada’s capital right there and then but there was much that could be learned long distance so he suggested they head home early and regroup before reacting too impulsively to this new information. Neal had reluctantly agreed.</p>
<p>The next direct flight to New York wasn’t until early Friday morning so Neal and Peter decided to bunker down for one more night and head out first thing in the morning.</p>
<p>Peter called Elizabeth to let her know he would be coming home early. She was thrilled of course and promised to meet him at the airport when he arrived. Neal, on the other hand, thought it would be fun to surprise Sara with his early arrival. He knew how much she enjoyed their Friday night dinner out with the kids; she’d be thrilled to have him home for that. The guys spent the evening in their room, eating bad Chinese food as they began to pore over the details of what they had learned. </p>
<p>‘El must be happy we’re coming home early’ Neal commented as they ate.</p>
<p>Peter nodded. ‘Yeah, she was glad.’</p>
<p>Neal studied his best friend’s face. ‘Look, I realize that asking you not to tell Elizabeth what we’re doing was a big ask.’</p>
<p>Peter shrugged. ‘I hate keeping things from her. She’s been so supportive all these years… we’re a team, you know.’</p>
<p>Neal sighed and put down his fork. ‘I just don’t have the heart to say anything to Sara until we know something for sure…’</p>
<p>‘I get it. And you’re right, El would have slipped up. She never would have been able to keep this from Sara.’</p>
<p>Neal let out a choked laugh.</p>
<p>‘What?’ asked Peter, amused.</p>
<p>‘Just… can you think of two women who are more different than our wives?’</p>
<p>Peter nodded. ‘It’s true. Who knew they’d get so close?’</p>
<p>Neal grew reflective. ’Sara doesn’t have many friends. She’s got Lydia at work and Donna but… maybe it’s her fear of abandonment, I don’t know…’</p>
<p>‘I guess Emily leaving like that left her pretty shook up, huh?’</p>
<p>‘She was just a kid and she looked up to her big sister. Even though Emily leaving had nothing to do with Sara, I think she took it… as a rejection. After that, she built a wall around herself to keep from getting hurt.’</p>
<p>‘Until you came along’ Peter remarked with a grin.</p>
<p>‘I don’t know about that. I guess we’d both been building walls, they were just different.'</p>
<p>‘Why do you suppose Emily didn’t come looking for her?’</p>
<p>Neal shrugged. ’Like Katherine said, maybe she was ashamed of what she’d done in the beginning, stripping, getting caught up with drugs… maybe she was afraid of what Sara would think.’</p>
<p>Peter could see the anguish in his best friend’s eyes. ‘For what it’s worth, I think you’re doing the right thing Neal.’</p>
<p>‘I hope I’m not making a terrible mistake. I just couldn’t stand seeing her like that anymore Peter. Always wondering… never knowing for sure. Nobody deserves that.’</p>
<p>Peter thought he picked up on something else in Neal’s faraway gaze. ‘Do you ever think about… your mom. Where she is? What she’s doing?’</p>
<p>Neal’s face changed, growing dark at the mention of his mother who’d all but abandoned him at such an early age.</p>
<p>‘No’ he said dismissively. ‘That’s different. She checked out when I needed her the most.’</p>
<p>It didn’t sound all that different to Peter but he let Neal’s comment go unchallenged. Instead, he grabbed for his notebook.</p>
<p>‘You want to add this new stuff to your… whatever that is you call it.’</p>
<p>Neal had been keeping a storyboard of sorts with all the time lines mapped out as well as the names and contact numbers of the people they’d met and all the details they had learned. It had grown to a chart about 18 x 24 in size with arrows and names and dates along with some doodles only someone like Neal would include. He began to add the new information, new arrows forming as facts linked up from different sources. He was feeling optimistic. The only thing that could derail them was to learn Emily had died an untimely death over the past seven years.</p>
<p>A few feet away, Peter sat at his laptop, researching Mike Foster, civil engineer. He got a few hits on Google, papers that the man had contributed to writing and some award he had won while he lived in Tucson but nothing about his current whereabouts or whether or not he was still working as an engineer. He turned to the Government of Canada website, trying to track down where Mike Foster was presently working but he hit a wall. He could see that the man had worked for the Ministry of External Affairs but even with his FBI clearance, Peter was unable to gain access to confidential information on the man. Apparently, Mike Foster had the highest level of security clearance and without a warrant, there was no way of tracking him down. There was no justifiable reason for a warrant, so Peter went back to the drawing board in order to figure out how to gain information on Mike Foster and his lovely wife, Emily Ellis.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>It was almost three o’clock on Friday afternoon when Neal got off the elevator on the 31<sup>st</sup> floor of the Sterling Bosch building on 47<sup>th</sup> Street in downtown Manhattan. He made his way through the maze of hallways and walked up to Sara’s assistant with his usual charming demeanour.</p>
<p>‘Hey Jenny! Is my wife in?’ he asked.</p>
<p>‘She is but she asked not to be disturbed’ the young woman said.</p>
<p>Neal cocked his head to one side and gave her one of those blistering smiles that came so easily.</p>
<p>Jenny melted at the sight. ‘Why don’t I see if I can interrupt, her’ she said.</p>
<p>With a meek knock, she opened the door to Sara’s office. ’Ms Ellis…’ she said as Sara cut her off, her voice audible from the outer office.</p>
<p>‘Jenny, which part of <em>‘I don’t want to be disturbed’</em> don’t you understand’ she barked as Neal popped his head into her office, with that oh so naughty grin of his.</p>
<p>‘Neal! What are you doing back?’ she said, her annoyance morphing into obvious delight.</p>
<p>‘Sorry Jenny, that’ll be all’ she said as she dismissed her assistant.</p>
<p>Neal closed the door behind him and strode confidently into her office, meeting Sara halfway. Despite her outburst, she was unable to hide her delight at seeing him appear unexpectedly at her place of work. Neal noticed her desk overflowing with files; she was obviously in the middle of something but for the moment, she seemed to have forgotten all that as he finally reached her and put his arms around her, pulling her in tightly.</p>
<p>‘I missed you’ he whispered huskily into her ear.</p>
<p>She gave him a playful slap on the arm. ’You trying to tell me you came home a day early because you <em>missed</em> me’ she replied with cynicism. </p>
<p>He pulled away to look into her eyes. ’Okay… so we finished up early and I couldn’t wait to see you. Is that better?’ he asked as he moved in to kiss her exposed neck.</p>
<p>‘More plausible, anyway’ she purred, fighting the urge to give in to this unexpected and uncharacteristic public display of affection. Despite her efforts, she felt a shiver all the way down to her toes.<br/>
<br/>
‘Honey, I’m kind of in the middle of something...’ she murmured as Neal pressed his lips against hers, cutting her off and causing her pulse to quicken.</p>
<p>‘I can see that…’ he said breathlessly, referring to the kiss and not the stack of files on her desk.</p>
<p>‘Neal…’ she began half-heartedly.</p>
<p>He kept kissing, his lips wandering from her lips to her neck to behind her ear.</p>
<p>’Yes Sara’ he whispered as he licked the shell of her ear.</p>
<p>She felt her breath hitch. ’Honey, cut it out. I’m up to my eyeballs in work here. Can’t this wait until we get home?’</p>
<p>Neal let out a deep guttural moan. ‘And what would be the fun in that?’ he whispered lewdly.</p>
<p>She pushed him away halfheartedly and got a glimpse of his usually bright eyes, darkened with lust.</p>
<p>‘Neal…’ was all she managed to get out.</p>
<p>‘You’re right’ he moaned, his breath becoming ragged. ‘This is totally inappropriate and I’ll stop immediately if you ask me to’ he said, a dare if ever there was one.</p>
<p>He continued nibbling at her ear, his hand wandering down to the edge of her skirt.</p>
<p>She moaned but did her best to recover. ’Neal, please, sto - ’ she began feebly but her body was dictating another course of action. She let his lips claim hers once again and she moaned into his mouth as his hips pinned her against the desk.</p>
<p>‘How much time do we have?’ he murmured softly, intent on seducing his wife in the middle of the workday. In her busy office.</p>
<p>‘Five, ten minutes’ she purred, her eyes closed and her head thrown back, now totally lost in the moment.</p>
<p>‘Lots, then...’ he murmured as he ran his hand up her leg and began tugging at her undies.</p>
<p>The next few minutes were a blur of hasty movements, heavy breathing and muffled sounds as unnecessary articles of clothing were pushed aside with lightning fast hands and mouths. They hadn’t had quick and dirty sex in years and the spontaneity of the moment as well as the possibility someone might walk in at any moment made the sex even hotter and more exciting. </p>
<p>The romantic interlude ended just as abruptly as it had begun. Neal and Sara grinned naughtily at each other, still panting and Neal began to tuck his shirt back into his pants as Sara smoothed her skirt and began adjusting her hair.</p>
<p>Suddenly, there was a soft knock at the door.</p>
<p>‘Ms Ellis, Mr. Bosch is ready for you’ said Jenny, through the door.</p>
<p>Sara looked at Neal with smouldering eyes, not quite believing what had just happened and she began to giggle as she straightened his tie which hung listlessly around his neck. She turned him around, giving him a firm slap on the butt as he went. </p>
<p>He looked over his shoulder, grinning. ‘See you at dinner’ he said, walking away.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>Hope was sitting on the couch in the family room sketching from a photograph when she heard the front door open. </p>
<p>‘Anybody home?’ she heard as the door closed.</p>
<p>‘Dad! What are you doing home? Mom said you weren’t due back until tomorrow’ she said looking up to find her dad standing between the family room and the kitchen looking a little ragged.</p>
<p>‘We finished early’ he answered as he took off his jacket and began to loosen his tie. He made his way over to the couch and gave his daughter a peck on the top of the head as he peered down at what she was doing.</p>
<p>‘Wow, that’s really good, honey’ he said, admiring her work. ‘I love what you’ve done here, it really gives the sketch some depth.'</p>
<p>‘Thanks, I was really struggling with that’ she said with a satisfied smile.</p>
<p>He took a seat next to her and put his feet up on the coffee table. ’Is this for anything special or just a personal project?’</p>
<p>‘It’s for an assignment on still life for my art class’ she replied with a sigh. ‘And you know how much I hate still life – except for landscapes. Bowls of fruit, however, I hate.’ </p>
<p>Neal chuckled. ’It’s all part of the learning process. Oh, by the way’ he added. 'I forgot to tell you that we’ve set a final date for the gallery opening, January twenty second. Are you going to be ready with ten pieces for me?’</p>
<p>‘Ten? Really? That many? I don’t know...’ said Hope, looking slightly worried.</p>
<p>‘Awww come on! You already have more than enough in the studio as it is’ he reminded her.</p>
<p>‘I know… but there not all ‘gallery-worthy’ she replied with a pout.</p>
<p>‘I beg to differ. That whole series from the cottage is beautiful and that’s what, six pieces right there’ Neal commented.</p>
<p>‘Yeah? I don’t know Dad, I don’t think they’re <em>all</em> good.’</p>
<p>‘Well honey, you’re the artist and you get to decide what you want to put in the gallery but remember, half the top floor is for your stuff so…’</p>
<p>Hope grew thoughtful. ’Dad, I want you to know I do realize what an amazing opportunity this is and I promise I won’t let you down. It’s not every sixteen-year-old who gets the chance to display their work in Manhattan’s art district.’</p>
<p>Neal put his arm around her and gave her a hug. ’For one thing, you could never let me down. And secondly, why do you think we’re doing this? Honey, I believe in you. You have an amazing eye and incredible talent and even if I wasn’t your dad and your number one fan, I would still be asking you to be part of the gallery’s permanent exhibit.’</p>
<p>Hope just smiled broadly. Ever since she was a toddler, her parents had given her every opportunity to explore her interests and develop her talent. As early as she could remember, there’d been a space just for her in Neal’s studio, starting with a toddler-sized easel when she had barely learned to walk.Of course, having a role-model like Neal Caffrey didn’t hurt. It had taken him his whole adult life to develop the level of confidence his daughter now had and he was thrilled to know that, unlike him, she would never have to suffer with self-doubt and insecurities.</p>
<p>‘So, dinner… Who’s turn is it to pick the restaurant?’ Neal asked, standing.</p>
<p>‘Liam’ she said with a chuckle.</p>
<p>They both looked at each other knowingly before chiming in simultaneously. ‘Italian!’</p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sara was usually very careful about her menu choices, especially when they went Italian where it was really difficult to resist all those carb laden pasta dishes. At forty-seven, she no longer had the diminutive frame she’d had in her twenties but she still looked amazing and she worked hard to maintain a healthy body weight. She watched what she ate and she worked out at the employee gym at Sterling Bosch every chance she got. But after two babies and a couple of decades, it was definitely more of a struggle to maintain that healthy weight so she worked hard on a daily basis to make healthy choices.</p>
<p>She looked the menu up and down and mused. ‘I think I might treat myself to some pasta tonight. I was particularly active today’ she said as she sent a meaningful look Neal’s way. </p>
<p>He smiled back knowingly.</p>
<p>‘What are you having Neal?’ she asked tauntingly. </p>
<p>‘Well, I am <em>starved! </em>I think I’m going to go with the… Fettucini Avelinno’ he said with gusto.</p>
<p>‘I’m having the veal’ Hope announced as she put down her menu. She wasn’t a picky eater, except for asparagus which she’d loathed since she was a toddler. Anything else was fair game.</p>
<p>‘What about you, honey’ Sara asked as she touched Liam’s arm. ‘You’re not looking like your usual chipper self. This is one of your favourite restaurants.’</p>
<p>‘I guess I’ll have the usual, lasagna’ he said without much conviction.</p>
<p>‘Are you sure you’re all right? You’re being awfully quiet’ Sara said with concern.</p>
<p>‘What’s wrong?’ asked Neal, feeling like he was out of the loop. Being out of town had its disadvantages when it came to being up on the latest on the kids’ frame of mind or their activities.</p>
<p>Hope was finally out of that awkward stage where her moods were all over the map but Liam was right smack dab in the middle of raging hormones and his moods and behaviours seemed unpredictable and constantly changing. One day, he could be kind and accommodating and the next, he was moody and irritable.</p>
<p>‘He’s just not eating like he should’ Sara as she raised her hand to touch his forehead.</p>
<p>‘Mom, please’ Liam whined as he pulled away from her touch.</p>
<p>‘All right’ Sara said, resigned. There was no sense insisting and ruining the atmosphere. It was Friday night, her favourite moment of the week when they all came together after a hard week at work and shared a meal without the usual distractions.</p>
<p>Neal and Sara sat across from each other, giving each other secretive, suggestive looks as all four of them tucked into their meals. Their little hook up that afternoon had added a little spice to their white bread sex life and after spending the last few nights alone in their bed, Sara was looking forward to sharing the space with Neal once again. She hoped he would be up for an encore performance when they finally made their way home. After all, they needed to make up for lost time...</p>
<p>‘So, how’s the investigation going?’ she asked. ‘Have you finally caught this guy?’</p>
<p>‘Not quite’ said Neal, careful of his answer. ‘We were able to trace some of his movements but he was no longer in Tucson so...’</p>
<p>‘Who is this guy anyway? A thief?’ she asked, urging Neal to continue.</p>
<p>‘Yeah, he’s wanted on a number of art thefts but he’s quick – and smart. Peter mostly wanted to interview some people to gather some intel on him’ he continued, milking the lie.</p>
<p>Although he was taking no pleasure in lying to his wife, Neal was surprised at just how easily he could still fabricate stories. He had always had the ability to think on the spot without really answering questions directly. Of course, Sara knew all about this talent of Neal’s but he had not indulged in story fabrication since they had been married – at least not on a regular basis – and Sara thought she knew him well enough to spot those carefully constructed lies. Her radar seemed to be on the fritz however and the conversation fell to the kids, their school activities, their plans for the weekend and the highlights of Sara’s week at work.</p>
<p>The couple continued to sip their wine while they gazed at each other like a couple of lovesick teenagers. Sara’s foot, which she'd slipped out of her shoe was making its way up and down Neal’s shin and he smiled appreciatively, eager to get home to act two of that afternoon’s performance.</p>
<p>‘Ewww, Mom!’ said Hope as she suddenly clued it to what was happening. ‘Are you playing footsies with Dad? This is family restaurant!’ she shrieked in mock horror at her parents’ lascivious behaviour.</p>
<p>‘Busted!’ said Sara.</p>
<p>Neal just looked at his daughter and shrugged. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>Saturday morning arrived along with another Caffrey tradition: Neal’s bacon and eggs with French toast. The funny thing was that after everyone devoured the contents of the entire platter Neal had placed on the table, they all seemed to disappear, leaving him with on his own to do the cleaning up.</p>
<p>He finished putting the last of the dishes in the dishwasher and after wiping down the kitchen counter, he came upstairs and started towards his bedroom. As he got closer, he could hear a commotion and he cocked his head around the door jamb to see what all the fuss was about.</p>
<p>‘I can’t find it anywhere!’ Sara was grumbling, visibly upset. She was opening and closing dresser drawers, removing articles of clothing, moving stuff around and the more she looked and didn’t find what she was looking for, the more flustered she was becoming.</p>
<p>‘Hey, hey, hey what’s going on?’ Neal asked as he came into the room, stepping over clothes that had spilled over onto the floor.</p>
<p>‘My picture… of Emily, I can’t find it anywhere’ she said breathlessly as she continued to ransack the room, not even bothering to look up at him.</p>
<p>Neal gave himself a mental head slap. He had ‘borrowed’ the picture for his trip out west and he had totally forgotten to put it back where Sara normally kept it, in her special keepsake box at the back of their bedroom closet. He knew exactly where the photograph was – in the side pocket of the suitcase he’d used when he’d traveled to Tucson. He could put Sara out of her misery in two seconds flat but admitting to where the photograph was meant admitting to much more – like why he had it in his suitcase in the first place. He hated the thought of conning Sara but he couldn’t come clean with a full confession; he had to find a way to calm her down without giving up his secret.</p>
<p>‘I’m sure it’s here somewhere babe’ he attempted in an effort to appease her. ‘When was the last time you saw it? You had it at the cottage in August, remember?’</p>
<p>‘Oh, my God!’ she squealed, horrified. ‘What if I left it there?! Neal, it’s the only picture I have of Emily.’</p>
<p>‘Sara, Sara, come here’ said Neal, deciding to go with distraction. He had to find some way to bring down the temperature -another couple of minutes and she would be downright hysterical.</p>
<p>He walked up to her and took her arm, nudging her to sit with him on the edge of the bed. ‘You know what it’s like when you’re looking for something – the more agitated you get, the less likely you are to find it’ he said in a calm, reasonable voice that belied his rapidly beating pulse.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She looked up into his eyes and he could see tears were about to spill out. God, he felt like a jerk, causing her worry when he could make it all go away.</p>
<p>‘Look at me’ he said, calmly. ‘You go downstairs and make yourself a cup of tea and let me look for it, okay?’</p>
<p>‘But - ’ she began as Neal pressed a finger to her lips.</p>
<p>‘Go downstairs and make yourself a cup of tea’ he repeated, slowly to accentuate his suggestion.</p>
<p>Sara sighed deeply.‘All right, all right’ she finally said as she stood and began to pick up some of the clothing that had fallen to the floor.</p>
<p>‘Leave it honey. I’ll get it’ said Neal, eager to get her out so he could put her out of her misery as soon as possible.</p>
<p>She walked away, shoulders slumped and the moment Neal heard her turning the corner, he ran to the closet where his suitcase had been stored and instantly, he had the photograph of Sara and Emily in his hands. He clutched it to his chest wondering why she was looking for it now. He counted to ten and slowly made his way to the kitchen where Sara was putting water on to boil.</p>
<p>‘Got it!’ he announced, as he waved it in his hand.</p>
<p>‘Oh, thank God’ Sara exclaimed as she took it from his hand and clutched it to her chest just as he’d done a moment earlier. ‘Where was it?’</p>
<p>‘It had fallen between the headboard and the wall’ lied Neal, smiling with relief at seeing his wife visibly relax.</p>
<p>‘How did that happen?’ she asked rhetorically.</p>
<p>He shrugged – another silent lie.</p>
<p>‘Thank you Neal’ she said, breathless as she gave him a quick hug.</p>
<p>‘Why were you looking for it, anyway?’ he asked, curious about the coincidence.</p>
<p>‘I don’t know… she’s been on my mind constantly lately. I just felt the need to look at her face’ said Sara, staring down at the photograph and smiling fondly.</p>
<p>Neal ran his hand gently over her hair as she looked up at him once again. ‘Sorry I got so flustered’ she said. ‘I guess I kind of lost it there for a minute.’</p>
<p>He continued studying her face. What the hell was he doing? Should he be coming clean with his wife about his search? Sure, she’d told him to leave it alone but did she really mean it? Ultimately, how would she feel when she eventually found out what he was doing behind her back? </p>
<p>If it all ended happily with Sara and Emily reunited, he had every hope Sara would forgive him for his deception. Eventually. But if he didn’t find Emily, he’d come to the conclusion it would be best to keep quiet and never tell Sara what he’d been up to. </p>
<p>The third (and nightmare) scenario was finding out Emily had died. That would be the worse possible outcome. How would he keep such devastating news from Sara? Would he have the courage (or folly) to keep deceiving her into believing Emily was safe somewhere? If that moment ever came to pass, he would have to face the horrible decision as to what to do.</p>
<p>But Neal wasn’t prepared to face that possibility. Not just yet.</p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Neal’s conscience was working overtime. After the incident with the missing photograph, he’d spent the rest of the day wondering what the hell he was doing and who he was <em>really</em> doing it for. Every time he’d mentioned searching for Emily in the past, Sara had been adamant that she didn’t want him to go down that road. Who was <em>he</em> to think he knew what Sara wanted more than she did herself? </p>
<p>It was ten o’clock on Saturday night when Sara came up from the basement with a basket of clean laundry in her arms.</p>
<p>‘Hey’ she said as she walked up to Neal who was finishing up the last of the dinner dishes.</p>
<p>He turned to face her and touched her nose with his soapy finger, hoping to get a smile out of his wife.</p>
<p>‘Cute’ she said, kissing him gently on the lips. ‘I’m totally done in. I’m going to bring this up and fold it upstairs and hit the sack. Are you coming up soon?’</p>
<p>‘In a while, I want to watch the news first’ he replied, watching her make her way to the stairs.</p>
<p>He and Peter had only been home for two days and Neal was already itching to get back on the road and finish this, once and for all. Peter hadn’t had any luck breaking through official channels and it was beginning to look like they would have to travel to Ottawa and meet up with some friends of Emily and Mike’s in order to get any new intel. Neal had spoken to Katherine over the phone and she’d given him the names of a couple of work colleagues of Mike’s that she’d met at their wedding.</p>
<p>He glanced at his portfolio lying by the couch in the family room. Maybe this was a good time to update his storyboard while the house was quiet. Liam was having a sleepover at Will’s, Hope had gone to a movie with some of her friends and he hadn’t heard a peep from upstairs for the last ten minutes.</p>
<p>He set up at the kitchen table, spreading out the large sheet of paper on which he’d been keeping all his notes from the Emily search. It was becoming rather cluttered with names, dates and details and he began to add the new information he’d gotten from Katherine, new contact names, the exact date of the wedding, the Ellis-Foster address in Ottawa and the dates she’d last been in touch with Emily.</p>
<p>Everything was laid out chronologically starting with Emily’s disappearance all the way to her last day in Tucson and he began studying it again, adding the newest info as he went. He thought of Gus and Katherine as well as Mrs. Moore, all those angels who’d been put on Emily’s path to keep her safe. </p>
<p>He’d been at it for a while, totally concentrated when he heard a sudden movement behind him.</p>
<p>‘I can’t sleep’ said Sara, startling him as she came up behind him. ‘I’m going to get something to drink.’</p>
<p>Neal froze. If he acted suspiciously, it would only draw attention to what he was doing. Instead, he began to surreptitiously gather the bits of paper that were scattered all over the table while Sara walked over to the fridge and poured herself a glass of juice. He was still working at hiding the evidence when she took a seat, glancing at the notes littering the table.</p>
<p>‘What <em>is</em> all this?’ she asked as she squinted to read his writing. ‘Is this the case you’re working on with Peter?’</p>
<p>Neal took a deep breath and gave her a dismissive look. ‘It’s just… something —‘</p>
<p>He didn’t have time to finish his sentence before she gasped as she caught sight of her sister’s name spelled out in large block letters at the top of the large sheet of paper.</p>
<p>She looked up at Neal whose face had faded to a shade of white she’d never quite seen before and her eyes returned to the large sheet of paper with post-its stuck all over, incriminating notes about Neal’s covert investigation, laid out in glorious detail.</p>
<p>‘What’s going on? Why is Emily’s name all over this?’ she asked as she picked up a post-it with her sister’s name and an address.</p>
<p>Neal stood, paralyzed, knowing full well that no matter what he said, no matter what he did, he’d been found out.</p>
<p>She picked up another note, a date with the names Emily and Mike and a heart drawn around them. ‘Neal… tell me this is not what I think it is.'</p>
<p>Neal couldn’t seem to get his brain to coordinate with his mouth. ‘It’s just… research…’ he muttered.</p>
<p>Sara felt her blood pressure rocket. ‘Are you searching for Emily?’ she asked in total disbelief.</p>
<p>‘Honey, it’s not what you think’ he murmured, seemingly at a loss for words.</p>
<p>‘Have you been going behind my back?’ Sara said, her voice growing louder as her disbelief morphed into anger.</p>
<p>Her eyes brightened as she began to put the pieces together.</p>
<p>‘Is that why you went to LA? And Tucson? You’ve been lying to me all this time?’</p>
<p>Neal was beginning to regain his composure and he reached for her arm as she pulled back.</p>
<p>‘Sara, let me explain — ’ he began, desperate to get her attention.</p>
<p>‘Explain what? That you’ve been lying to me for weeks and sneaking around behind my back. You knew how I felt about this.’</p>
<p>‘Babe, please… calm down’ Neal said. She looked like she was about to have a coronary. Her cheeks were bright red, her breathing had grown fast and irregular, her eyes were bulging out of her head.</p>
<p>‘You fucking bastard!’ she shouted. ‘How could you? How many times have I told you to leave it alone?’</p>
<p>She threw the pieces of paper she was holding on the table and started to walk away as he reached for her once more.</p>
<p>‘Sara, please!’</p>
<p>But she was having none of it.</p>
<p>‘NO’ she screamed as he reached for her. ‘DON’T touch me Neal!’</p>
<p>He backed off, stunned by the shrill sound of her voice. She marched towards the front of the house and he expected her to head upstairs to finish fuming but to his surprise, she grabbed for a coat and the car keys hanging by the front door.</p>
<p>‘Honey, wait. Please! Don’t leave… let’s talk this out’ he pleaded, one last attempt at keeping her from running out in the dark of night.</p>
<p>She gave him one last seething look of pure contempt. ‘I have nothing to say to you! And don’t you dare come after me!’ she shouted as she slammed the front door behind her, leaving Neal totally dazed and unable to move.</p>
<p>He stood in shock as the events of the last few minutes began to sink in. Suddenly the front door flew open and he looked up, hoping to see Sara standing there, ready to talk things out. Instead Hope stood in the doorway, eyeing him up and down and looking perplexed.</p>
<p>‘What the hell’s going on? Mom just took off like a crazy woman and ran over the rose bush before she tore down the street.’</p>
<p>If he hadn’t been so upset, Neal would have found that visual amusing – he was always teasing Sara about her poor driving skills.</p>
<p>‘Your mom and I had a… disagreement’ he said quietly.</p>
<p>‘No kidding! Are you okay?’</p>
<p>‘Not really. I kept something from her and she’s really upset about it.’</p>
<p>‘Well that’s obvious’ Hope said as she noticed the notes scattered all over the table. She began reading them, slowly putting two and two together.</p>
<p>‘Dad, have you been out searching for Aunt Emily?’ she asked, incredulous. </p>
<p>He nodded. ‘Uncle Peter and I have been following leads to try to find her’ he admitted, still shell shocked.</p>
<p>‘Wow! That’s so romantic!’ she said.</p>
<p>Neal scoffed. ‘I really doubt your mom sees it that way. She’s always said she didn’t want me to look into her disappearance but I thought I knew better...’</p>
<p>Hope could see the anguish in her dad’s eyes. ’Dad, she’s just scared. Scared of what you might find out. She’s kidding herself that not knowing is better than finding out something bad happened to her.’</p>
<p>Neal shook his head and proceeded to finish tidying up. ’Still… she’s right, it wasn’t my decision to make. I just couldn’t take seeing her so sad every time she thought about her and I wanted to try and fix it.’</p>
<p>He let himself fall listlessly on a kitchen chair, looking blindly ahead. ‘I really messed up this time.’</p>
<p>Hope brought her hand to rest on his shoulder. ’Is there anything I can do to help?’</p>
<p>He shook his head. ‘Thanks sweet pea… But this is 100% my mess and I’m going to have to be the one to clean it up.’</p>
<p>His first instinct was to call the Burkes. Chances were she was on her way to Brooklyn, considering she’d left with nothing but the clothes on her back. Her closest friend was Elizabeth and he suspected she would make her way there to try to work things out. He also owed Peter a heads up. Once Sara spilled the beans, Elizabeth would likely be pissed off at Peter as well. Better to give him time to tell his wife what was going on before El heard it from someone else.</p>
<p>‘Peter’ he said quietly into the phone. ‘Sara found out what’s going on.’</p>
<p>‘Oh, no! How is she?’</p>
<p>‘I have no idea. She took off like a bat out of hell and I’m pretty sure she’s heading your way. Can you call me when she shows up? I just need to know she’s safe.'</p>
<p>‘Sure. Do you want me to get her to call you?’ Peter asked.</p>
<p>Neal laughed sardonically. ‘Peter, this is Sara we’re talking about. I doubt she’ll be ready to talk to me tonight. Right now, she’s furious with me and she feels betrayed…’</p>
<p>‘I’m sorry Neal. I know you were doing this for <em>her.’</em></p>
<p>‘Well, maybe sometimes you have to accept it when someone tells you to butt out, something it’s taking me a long time to learn’ Neal sighed. ‘Look, you may want to tell Elizabeth what’s going on before she hears it from Sara.’</p>
<p>‘Thanks for the heads up’ said Peter as he hung up.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>Neal sat in the family room, staring into space and wondering how he was ever going to make this up to his wife. He had no idea how long he sat there but when he looked up at the time, he noticed she’d already been gone an hour. Sara wasn’t the most skilled driver at the best of times and in her frenzied state… well, he didn’t like the idea of her being out there driving around. He’d just grabbed the phone to check in with Peter when it rang in his hands.</p>
<p>‘She’s here’ said Peter, his voice a mere whisper.</p>
<p>Neal exhaled loudly. ’Is she okay?’</p>
<p>‘Not really. She’s pretty upset but she is in one piece and I knew you wouldn’t be able to sleep until you knew she was safe. She’s upstairs with El. I can hear her crying but I can’t hear what she’s saying.’</p>
<p>‘It’s all right. I’m just glad she made it safely. Peter, if you talk to her, tell her I’m sorry.’</p>
<p>‘I’ll do my best’ said Peter. ‘But I kinda got the cold shoulder when she came in. You might not be the only one sleeping on his own tonight.’</p>
<p>‘How did Elizabeth take it?’</p>
<p>Neal could hear voices growing louder in the background.</p>
<p>‘We’ll talk tomorrow’ Peter whispered, bringing their conversation to a sudden end.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>Sara and Elizabeth sat on the edge of the bed in El and Peter’s bedroom. Elizabeth’s arm was wrapped around her friend’s shoulder but every few seconds, Sara would become agitated and El’s arm would fall away only to be repositioned once more.</p>
<p>‘Why does he have to be so damn impulsive?’ Sara sniffled. ‘He drives me crazy.'</p>
<p>‘I know it doesn’t explain him disregarding your wishes but you have to think about his motivation for doing this’ said El, doing her best to be the voice of reason. She was plenty mad at Peter but at the moment, her place was with Sara, helping her work through her anger and disappointment.</p>
<p>Sara just stared at her friend wide-eyed, rage pouring out of every pore of her body.</p>
<p>‘He had no right!’ she said angrily.</p>
<p>‘Sara, he loves you and knowing him, he probably couldn’t stand seeing you hurt so bad.’</p>
<p>‘If he really loved me, he would have respected my wishes’ Sara said, dabbing her eyes. ‘He’s so damn impulsive and he never thinks about how his actions will affect others.’</p>
<p>‘Honey, that’s not true. He might not always follow orders but he always does what he thinks is right for the people he cares about. You can’t fault him for that.’</p>
<p>There was a sudden flash of anger in Sara’s eyes. ‘Yes I can’ she said petulantly. ‘El, I’ve been with him for over twenty years and he must have asked me a dozen times if I wanted him to search for Emily and I’ve always been clear...’ she said, her breathing growing uneven.</p>
<p>Elizabeth sighed. ‘Have you? Really? I was there a few years back… remember, that night we went out to dinner at Venti’s. It was the anniversary of her disappearance and you were a hot mess. You might not have wanted to but you were giving Neal mixed messages. A guy like Neal… he needs to take care of the people he loves and he always wants to fix whatever’s broken. Frankly, it’s a miracle he didn’t act on this before. Peter says Neal approached him because he thought they might have a better chance of getting somewhere while Peter’s still with the FBI.'</p>
<p>Sara just stared at Elizabeth, her breathing ragged as she listened to every word.</p>
<p>Elizabeth tried again. ’I guess you could say he did a great job of controlling his impulses for twenty years before giving in.’</p>
<p>Sara glared at her, unamused by her last comment. </p>
<p>‘Tell you what’ El said as she got to her feet. ‘Let’s go downstairs and we can open a bottle of wine.’</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>Neal woke with a start. He’d fallen asleep on the couch in the family room. His neck was sore from the awkward position he’d fallen asleep in and he let out a groan as he stood to make his way into the kitchen. It was still dark outside, the clock on the microwave the only light in the room. It was 5:15 and he figured he’d been asleep for about an hour. He turned on some lights and proceeded to put on some coffee.</p>
<p>He thought about Sara, wondering if she’d gotten any sleep. As angry as she was, she’d probably be ruminating what had happened, going over things over and over again. That was Sara’s way – work through the anger, replay the situation in her mind, analyze things from all angles. Unlike Neal who reacted spontaneously, she took the time to digest things, to look at them from different points of view and come up with a stance that was virtually unchangeable.</p>
<p>At this point, all Neal could do was wait her out. There was no sense in showing up uninvited at the Burkes and begging her to listen to his side of the story. He would get a chance when Sara was good and ready.</p>
<p>He just hoped that moment would come before too long.</p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The call came at around noon on Sunday while Neal was down in his studio trying to keep busy. There was still much to do before the gallery opening and even though his time and energy had been centred around the search for Emily, he needed to be ready when the long awaited date rolled around.</p>
<p>Neal wasn’t surprised that Peter had been tasked with delivering the message. Sara was likely too upset to call herself. But the news was encouraging: Peter and El were on their way out for lunch and Sara was asking if Neal could come over. She could have come home of course but, knowing his wife, Neal surmised she wanted to keep their discussion away from the prying ears of their offspring. Which could only mean only one thing - she was still damn mad and gearing up to give him an earful.</p>
<p>But as he’d learned over the years, discourse, even angry, bitter, heated, impassioned discourse was better than no discourse at all so, entrusting Hope with the care of her baby brother, Neal set out to go join his wife in Brooklyn.</p>
<p>He let himself into the Burke home as he’d done countless times before, quietly closing the front door behind him as he spied Sara on the couch, nursing a cup of coffee. Without a word, she stood, leaving him standing there wondering before returning with a cup of hot coffee and handing it to him before returning to her seat.</p>
<p>‘Thanks’ he mumbled as he took a seat on the chair facing her.</p>
<p>He studied her as she tentatively looked up and immediately returned her eyes to her coffee cup, ostensibly mulling over her opening salvo. Had the call to détente been premature? Neal was more than ready to grovel; she was without doubt the victim here, the one who’d been lied to, tricked and betrayed. Was she ready to talk things out, listen to what he had to say and eventually forgive him so they could return to their peaceful, perfectly wonderful existence?</p>
<p>Surprisingly, the anger which had been present in her eyes the night before seemed to have given way to despondency and sadness. Neal preferred to let her speak first and guide the discussion because no matter what he said at this point would only serve to add fuel to an already raging fire and would do nothing to dissipate the hurt and disappointment that was obvious in her eyes.</p>
<p>She took one last fortifying sip of coffee and looked him straight in the eye. ‘Neal, what in heaven’s name possessed you to do what you did?’ she finally asked quietly.</p>
<p>Neal took a deep breath, carefully weighing his words before locking eyes with her.</p>
<p>‘When I saw just how upset you were at the cottage’ he began slowly. ‘It… it broke my heart and I thought maybe, with Peter’s help, we could do some snooping around and maybe we could finally find out what happened to Emily.’</p>
<p>Her uneven breathing was audible as silence returned.</p>
<p>‘I know how much you hate secrets’ he continued. ‘But I thought it was the lesser of two evils. If nothing came of it, you would never need to know but maybe, just maybe we’d be able to find her and you two could reunite.’</p>
<p>Sara scoffed. ‘I think you’ve been reading too many fairy tales Caffrey’ she said.</p>
<p>The fact that she’d addressed him as Caffrey caused his breath to hitch. She used the nickname when she was feeling playful or at least she wasn’t in the habit of using it when she was about to bite his head off.</p>
<p>‘Sara, I love you and I just can’t stand seeing you so sad.’</p>
<p>Her eyes grew angry once again. ‘<em>You</em> can’t stand?’ she repeated. ‘This isn’t about you Neal, it’s about me.’</p>
<p>He nodded, she was right of course. ‘You’re right. But if you saw that I was upset, year after year and you thought there was something you could do to make it better, even if I told you to leave it alone, would you?’</p>
<p>She was a little too quick to respond. ’Yes Neal, I would. Because I’d respect the fact that you know what you want for yourself better than I do’ she replied calmly.</p>
<p>There was sadness in his eyes when he next spoke. ‘Well, that’s where we differ’ he said softly. ‘Because I’d do just about anything so that you’d never have to suffer.’</p>
<p>His words hit her like a kick in the gut and she thought back to all the times Neal had struggled with watching her or one of the kids in pain, be it physical or emotional. How he could never just let it be when someone he loved was hurting and how he always needed to try to make things better. She thought back to Hope’s three month check-up and how he’d had to leave the room because he couldn’t bear to see her cry when it came time for her MMR. She recalled how he’d been torn apart as he watched her suffer through her chemo treatments all those years ago, how in some ways, it had been harder on him than it had been on her. She thought of the delivery of their two babies and how Neal had struggled with watching her in physical pain. He was a loving, sensitive man and regardless of the fact that he often behaved impulsively, he always acted with the very best of intentions where his family was concerned.</p>
<p>Sara took a deep cleansing breath. It took two to tango and she wasn’t without knowing that for every shred of impulsiveness and recklessness Neal exhibited, she matched him tenfold with herstubbornness and determination. Part of the anger she’d felt the night before had been directed at herself, anger at the realization that she was terrified of finding out the truth about what had happened to her sister. Digging in her heels at this point would do nothing to resolve their current dilemma.</p>
<p>The anger that had been so palpable a moment earlier faded to sadness once more and this time, Sara gave in, as tears began to form in her eyes. Neal stood and without hesitation, he moved to sit next to her on the couch. She fought him for a few seconds but the fight quickly went out of her as she let herself be pulled into his arms.</p>
<p>‘I’m scared Neal’ she finally whispered, her voice wavering.</p>
<p>‘I know baby, I know’ he murmured back. ‘That’s why I kept it from you.’</p>
<p>‘What if it’s horrible news?’ she blubbered.</p>
<p>‘We don’t know that, not for sure. But don’t you want to know once and for all?’</p>
<p>She nodded against him and he squeezed her tight.</p>
<p>‘Whatever truth is out there, we can face it together.’</p>
<p>She pulled away, her clear green eyes rolling in tears. ‘I’m sorry I said those things to you last night’ she murmured as she thought back to her little outburst at the house.</p>
<p>Neal laughed softly and reached out to wipe a tear from her cheek. ‘It’s okay, I’ve been called worse.’</p>
<p>She nodded. ’I <em>do</em> know you were doing this for me.’</p>
<p>‘Still… we shouldn’t have any secrets’ Neal said as he felt her body start to relax. ‘Maybe I should have worked harder on convincing you to let me do this.’</p>
<p>Sara pulled out of his embrace and looked at him. ‘What happens now?’ she asked.</p>
<p>He ran his hand down her cheek. ‘That’s up to you. But if you want, I can tell you everything we’ve found out so far.’</p>
<p>She gave that some thought and he could see she was wavering. She’d kept her head in the sand long enough - it was time to know the truth once and for all.</p>
<p>‘Hungry?’ he asked as she nodded.</p>
<p>’Then what do you say we go get something to eat and we can keep talking?’</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>Neal was the first to arrive and he took up residence in a booth at the back of their local diner as he waited for Sara to arrive. He was hoping to carry on with the conversation they’d started and fill her in on what he and Peter had uncovered thus far. </p>
<p>Sara made her way slowly through the streets of Brooklyn towards White Plains as she replayed the events of the last twenty-four hours. Neal‘s actions had forced her to face the painful reality behind her intense reaction: she was scared shitless. Scared that Emily might be dead, scared that her sister might not want her back in her life, scared that the wonderful memories she’d treasured all these years might be tainted by the reality of the life Emily had lived, scared that her sister might tumble off the pedestal Sara had placed her on for the past thirty-five years. Neal had been right about one thing: with truth there would be freedom from all those fears, no matter how painful that might be.</p>
<p>Neal spotted her driving up and parking by the entrance to the restaurant. He watched as she made her way inside, marvelling at the way she held herself. No matter what she was going through, Sara always exuded strength and confidence and after almost twenty years together, that remained one of the traits Neal most admired about his wife. He was often tentative about things, always struggling with the right course of action but she always seemed to know what to do and he admired her vitality and drive. Of course, the flip side of that was the fact she was quick to anger and over the years, she’d done and said some pretty hurtful things all of which he’d willingly forgiven.</p>
<p>She made her way to the booth and slipped in, flashing him a tentative smile.</p>
<p>‘Are we good?’ she asked.</p>
<p>‘Aren’t we always?’ he replied as he reached for her hand.</p>
<p>They ordered lunch and as they ate, Neal filled her in on the details of his trip to LA, his visit to San Diego and their more recent trip to Tucson. As he spoke, he could see Sara begin to relax at some of the details he was sharing.She was visibly relieved to hear that, although Emily had had a rough start when she’d first left home, she had found a way to get her life back on track.</p>
<p>‘So, she was a teacher?’ she asked as Neal began to recount the information he and Peter had uncovered on their recent trip to Arizona.</p>
<p>‘Yeah, she taught grades 3 and 4. And she shared an apartment for about five years with a fellow teacher, a woman by the name of Katherine Baker. Peter and I met with her and she shed a lot of light on Emily’s life.They were close and Emily shared her past, her family life… and Katherine says she talked a lot about you.’</p>
<p>‘Really?’ Sara said, tears forming in her bright green eyes.</p>
<p>‘She regretted leaving you behind to deal with your parents and their unreasonable expectations. But she knew that at sixteen, she couldn’t take care of a twelve-year-old.Katherine said Emily even had her call your parents to check up on you but you’d left for school by then. Emily was ashamed of what she’d done in LA and she was afraid that if she reconnected with you, you’d be disappointed in her.’</p>
<p>Sara wiped a tear as she listened, awestruck by what Neal was saying. He ended with their latest bit of intel, that Emily had married a man by the name of Mike Foster and had moved to Canada to be with him.</p>
<p>‘Do you think she’s still there?’ Sara asked, her voice trembling.</p>
<p>Neal shrugged. ‘We don’t know yet.’</p>
<p>He paused. ‘Sara, if you really want me to stop looking, I will. But I really think that would be a mistake at this point. Honey, you need to know, you need closure one way or the other.’</p>
<p>He watched her waver, her troubled eyes reflecting the nagging doubt she was having about what to do next.</p>
<p>‘Why don’t we start by calling Katherine’ he suggested. ‘You could talk to her and ask her whatever you want. She’s a really nice lady and I know she could help fill in some of the blanks.’</p>
<p>‘You think she’d talk to me?’ Sara asked, unsure.</p>
<p>‘Of course. So what do you say?’</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>‘You sure, you’re okay buddy?’ Neal asked he sat across from his son. Liam had been under the weather for days now and Neal wasn’t willing to let it go.</p>
<p>‘I’m just really tired’ Liam said listlessly as he looked up from his homework.</p>
<p>‘You’ve been saying that for a few weeks now. Maybe we should take you to the doctor’s for a check-up’ Neal said.</p>
<p>‘I hate the doctor.’</p>
<p>‘Who doesn’t? But Liam, you’re losing weight and I noticed you don’t have your usual energy. I’ll call on Monday and make an appointment.’</p>
<p>‘Don’t tell Mom’ said Liam, adamant. ‘She always makes a big deal of things.’</p>
<p>‘I am <em>not</em> keeping this from your mom’ said Neal, just as resolutely.</p>
<p>‘Dad… there is one thing. I’ve got like some sort of infection or rash or something...’</p>
<p>Neal could see his son was uncomfortable sharing this piece of information. ‘Where? Show me’ he said, his concern growing.</p>
<p>‘It’s… you know...’ Liam replied, pointing to the general vicinity of his groin.</p>
<p>‘Oh, okay. Well, show me later and we’ll get it looked at by the doctor.’</p>
<p>They were interrupted by Sara, walking in with a huge grin on her face. She’d just spent the last hour chatting with Katherine Baker and Neal could tell their talk had been productive.</p>
<p>‘So, you had good talk?’ he asked as she came over and threw her arms around his neck.</p>
<p>‘We had a <em>great</em> talk. What a nice lady!’ Sara exclaimed more relaxed than he’d seen her look in a while. ‘I feel so much better.’</p>
<p>‘So, what do you want to do? Do you want us to carry on with the search?’</p>
<p>‘On one condition’ she replied. ‘As long as we do it together and you tell me everything, and I do mean absolutely everything you find out. No matter what it is.</p>
<p>‘Deal’ he said, returning her hug.</p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After her conversation with Katherine Baker, Sara had done a complete one eighty and she’d informed Neal she wanted to help and get involved in the search for her sister. Her discussion with Katherine had allayed many of her fears and reassured her that Emily had never stopped caring about her and had only wanted the best for her. Now, that she’d been reassured on that score, she realized that what had kept Emily away all those years was her fear that Sara might disown her and her shame at how she’d spent the first few years of her life away from home.</p>
<p>Armed with this new information, Sara was more than eager to carry on and she pushed Neal into telling her every single detail he’d uncovered starting with his talk with Gus. It was Sunday afternoon, so Neal threw a roast in the oven and decided to invite Elizabeth and Peter over for dinner so they could discuss plans for the next phase of their investigation. </p>
<p>An idea was beginning to burgeon in Sara’s mind. With Neal’s birthday just a few days away, why not combine the celebration with a trip to Ottawa and bring along their best friends, thus killing two birds with one stone.</p>
<p>Although he was pleased to see the enthusiasm with which his wife was willing to embark on this adventure, Neal worried she might become overly optimistic about the outcome which, for the time being, remained a mystery. He resolved to help temper her excitement and become the voice of reason - a rare occurrence in their coupling.</p>
<p>Once the extended family was seated for Sunday dinner, the conversation inevitably turned to the current search for Emily Ellis.</p>
<p>‘You know, I’ve been doing some research and Ottawa has a lot to offer’ Sara said as she finished serving the last of the dinner plates.</p>
<p>They were having dinner in the dining room, an unusual occurrence, but with both the kids home as well as a not so surprise visit by Mozzie, that was an awful lot of people to fit around the kitchen table.</p>
<p>‘We’ve been to Ottawa a couple of times, haven’t we Neal?’ Mozzie said cryptically as he took a bite of roast.</p>
<p>‘Yeah, at least twice that I can remember’ replied Neal, eager to steer away from the particulars related to their previous trips up north.</p>
<p>But nothing escaped Peter. ‘Oh yeah?’ he said with just a touch of derision. ‘And when was that?’</p>
<p>Neal ignored him and stayed on course, preferring to speak to the more innocuous reminiscences of their previous visits there.</p>
<p>’It’s beautiful in the winter’ he said. ‘They have the longest skating rink in the world, the Rideau Canal. It’s something like five miles long.’</p>
<p>‘Wow! Well, I doubt there’s any skating in October – even in Canada’ Peter countered.</p>
<p>Elizabeth had become intrigued by Sara’s sudden turnaround. ’Are you really serious about this?’ she asked.</p>
<p>Frankly, she wasn’t totally sold on the idea. She had an event coming up the following weekend and wasn’t sure this was the best time to be taking off on an impromptu vacation.</p>
<p>‘When do we ever do anything spontaneous?’ Sara reminded them, eyes bright with excitement.</p>
<p>‘What about us?’ asked Liam, his mouth full.</p>
<p>‘Uncle Mozzie said he’d stay with you. It’s only for a couple of nights.’ Sara said reassuringly.</p>
<p>Neal sighed. He hoped Sara wasn’t setting herself up for a huge disappointment. ’Peter, do we have enough to go on? We don’t want to get all the way there and realize we’re wasting our time.’</p>
<p>For once, Peter seemed to be playing the role of cockeyed optimist - a role that he usually left to Neal.</p>
<p>’With the names we got from Katherine, we can certainly make a start. She not only had a couple of names from Mike’s workplace but she said Emily had been involved with the arts community and gave us a couple of contacts’ he said, glancing in Elizabeth’s direction in an effort to gauge her interest in the crazy idea.</p>
<p>Sara just grinned. It seemed she’d been grinning non-stop ever since her conversation with Katherine Baker. Despite his worry she might be getting ahead of himself, Neal bit his tongue, not wanting to quash her enthusiasm.</p>
<p>‘If we <em>did</em> go’ Elizabeth said. ‘When would we leave?’</p>
<p>‘I’ve already checked out flights and there’s a direct flight to Ottawa leaving tomorrow afternoon at three’ Sara said, forging right ahead.</p>
<p>Neal raised his hand. ’Whoa, whoa whoa! <em>Who </em>are you? And what have you done with my wife?’</p>
<p>Elizabeth exchanged looks with Peter, as only married people do, communicating silently and getting a sense of where they both stood on the idea. Sara was her best friend and seeing her this excited was beginning to rub off on Elizabeth. </p>
<p>‘I suppose Yvonne could keep things going for me until I get back, as long as we’re back by Friday’ she said, looking at both Neal and Peter but it was Sara who spoke up.</p>
<p>‘All right then’ she declared, calling an end to the discussion. ‘I guess we’re going to Ottawa!’</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>The plane landed at 6:20 at MacDonald-Cartier International Airport and the foursome climbed into the first available cab with instructions to be dropped off in the heart of downtown Ottawa, at the Westin Hotel. As they drove and with the sun beginning to set, they took in the sights along the Airport Parkway and the Rideau Canal. Once downtown, they were struck by the beauty and history of the buildings along the way, the Parliament Buildings, the Château Laurier and the Conference Centre. It seemed like a more muted version of Manhattan with beautiful sights but in a more subdued setting with none of the ‘in your face’ style of New York City.</p>
<p>They settled in their rooms and decided to have dinner in the hotel, choosing to strategize rather than to go exploring, at least for their first night. From the restaurant, they could see the Parliament Buildings lit up and the majestic canal right by the National Arts Centre. The view was breathtaking, the company pleasant and the food fantastic and by the time ten o’clock rolled around, the couples were ready to take the party up to the Burkes’ room for a nightcap and a final discussion of the next day’s activities.</p>
<p>Peter had managed to get an appointment with the head of the Civil Engineering Department at the Ministry of External Affairs, a man by the name of Joseph Murray. According to Katherine, he’d been Mike’s boss back when the couple had gotten married. Mr. Murray had agreed to meet with Special Agent Burke although he wasn’t quite certain why the FBI wanted to meet with him.</p>
<p>Sara and Elizabeth were working another angle. Katherine had mentioned that Emily had dabbled in the arts and had been a patron of the Glebe Artists’ Guild. The Glebe was an upscale neighbourhood where Mike and Emily had owned a home and Sara was looking forward to taking a drive through the area and seeing for herself where her sister had spent five years of her life. A quick internet search had yielded the address for the modest tea room that doubled as showcase for members of the guild and Elizabeth and Sara were planning to head over for tea and conversation.</p>
<p>Tuesday morning dawned as the beauty of the city’s lights gave way to the hustle and bustle of a weekday in the nation’s capital complete with a view of the majestic Gatineau Hills across the Ottawa River. The Ottawa Valley was prime maple land and the brilliantly changing colours in the distant hills could be seen from the Caffreys’ hotel room. </p>
<p>‘We have got to go hiking in those hills’ said Sara, mesmerized by the view.</p>
<p>‘Wow, that is gorgeous’ agreed Neal as he finished toying with his tie. ‘Hungry?’ he asked.</p>
<p>‘Starving’ she replied. The air was crisp on this early fall day and Sara could feel her stomach rumbling despite the large meal they’d consumed a mere ten hours before.</p>
<p>After breakfast, the foursome disbanded with Neal and Peter heading over to External Affairs over on Sussex Drive for their meeting with Joseph Murray while the women made plans to go exploring and stop in for tea at the Glebe Tea Room. With their marching orders, they agreed to meet up at five o’clock in their hotel lobby for drinks.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>‘I’m not sure how I can be of help’ said Joseph Murray as he pointed to the two chairs in front of his desk. ‘But I’m more than happy to be of service to the FBI.’</p>
<p>‘Mr. Murray, I’ll be honest’ Peter said as he and Neal settled on the leather chairs. ‘This isn’t <em>official</em> FBI business, per se. It’s an investigation of a more personal nature. We’re hoping to locate a family member, a woman who was married to one of your employees, Mike Foster.’</p>
<p>‘Mike? You mean Emily?’ the man said spontaneously.</p>
<p>‘Yes, born Ellis’ clarified Peter. ‘Neal here is Emily’s brother in law – he’s married to Sara Ellis, Emily’s sister.’</p>
<p>Joseph listened, somewhat leery about sharing any kind of information with these two strangers.Mike had been a valued employee and Murray had really liked Emily as well. He needed to make sure these two men were on the up and up.</p>
<p>‘Emily left home as a teenager and her sister never saw her again’ Neal explained, leaning forward and pouring on the Caffrey charm. ‘My wife has been wondering about what happened to her for over thirty-five years.’</p>
<p>The man listened but remained unconvinced.</p>
<p>‘We’ve followed her tracks from LA to Arizona and up here. I’m really hoping we can find her’ Neal continued as he pulled out the photograph of Emily and Sara, his ace in the hole.</p>
<p>At the sight of the photograph, the man seemed to relax a little. He recognized Emily even though she’d aged many years by the time he’d met her. </p>
<p>‘And how, exactly, can I help you?’ he asked.</p>
<p>‘Well after weeks of research, this is where the trail ends. We know Mike and Emily lived here in Ottawa for a number of years. Are they still here?’</p>
<p>The man took a moment to give Neal one last apprising look. ’Mike retired three years ago. Sophie, that’s Mike’s daughter, she got married and had a baby and moved out west to Calgary and Mike and Emily thought it would be nice to spend some time travelling in Europe.’</p>
<p>Neal kept up the pressure, smiling earnestly. ‘Have you heard from them?’</p>
<p>‘I got a few postcards but I haven’t heard from them in over two years now’ the man admitted.</p>
<p>Peter spoke up, sensing Neal’s disappointment that their goal might be slipping away once more.</p>
<p>’Would you happen to know where, in Europe, they settled?’</p>
<p>‘I know they travelled in the beginning. They visited Paris and London and spent some time in Ireland but last I heard they’d settled in Brussels. Like I said, that was at least two years ago.’</p>
<p>Neal wasn’t about to let the trail run dry. ’Did Mike have any other colleagues here, friends who might know what happened to him?’ he asked, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.</p>
<p>‘Huh, a few I guess, I’d have to think about it’ said Joseph Murray.</p>
<p>Neal pulled out his patented Caffrey smile once more. ‘We’d be so thankful if you could put us in touch with them. We’re here until Thursday and we’re staying at the Westin’ he said as he wrote down his phone number, handing it over to the man who rose and shook his hand before seeing them to the door.</p>
<p>They walked out with Peter’s hand reaching to squeeze Neal’s shoulder. ‘We’ll figure it out’ he said.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>A few kilometres away, Sara and Elizabeth were doing some sight-seeing in their rented car. They had driven down Queen Elizabeth Drive all the way along the canal towards the Glebe where they began zigzagging along the tree lined streets, enjoying the cool crisp autumn day and the beautiful multi-coloured trees along the way.</p>
<p>They found the house on Holmwood Street which had been home to Mike and Emily and Elizabeth stopped the car while Sara stared at the beautiful house nestled on the quiet street and backing on to the small waterway that was Paterson’s Creek. She closed her eyes, imagining her sister in the garden or perhaps walking their dog… Did they have a dog? Or perhaps walking to the shops on nearby Bank Street which was the retail hub of the neighbourhood. Elizabeth reached out and touched Sara’s hand, bringing her out of her reverie.</p>
<p>‘It’s strange…’ Sara said as a lump formed in her throat. ‘I can almost feel her here.’</p>
<p>‘It’s a beautiful neighbourhood. They were obviously doing very well’ added Elizabeth as she took in the posh surroundings.</p>
<p>‘Yeah…’ Sara replied sadly. ‘It’s good to know she had a good life after the rough start she’d had.’</p>
<p>‘What do you say we head over to the tea room and see if we can come up with any leads?’ suggested Elizabeth in an effort to pull her friend out of her funk.</p>
<p>Sara nodded silently as she wiped a tear and within ten minutes they were both seated in front of a cup of Earl Grey tea and a couple of blueberry scones. The tea room was small but jam packed with art pieces on the walls and in a nearby curio cabinet. The place had a lot of charm and the young woman who had served them seemed to be doing double duty in the kitchen as well as serving tables.</p>
<p>When there came a small lull in activity, Elizabeth motioned her over and introduced herself and Sara, saying they were visiting from New York.</p>
<p>‘Great!’ said they young woman whose name according to a very artsy looking name tag was Hannah. ‘It’s nice to know our reputation has made it all the way to the Big Apple.’</p>
<p>‘This place is lovely’ said Sara, glancing around. ‘But we <em>are</em> here for a very specific reason. I’m trying to find out what happened to my sister. She lived in the area up until about three years ago and she was a member of the local artists’ guild.’</p>
<p>‘What’s her name?’ asked Hannah.</p>
<p>‘Emily. Emily Ellis or Emily Foster, I’m not sure what name she would have been using.’</p>
<p>‘Emily Ellis....’ the young woman repeated, growing thoughtful. Her eyes were drawn to the wall in the back of the small café where a dozen or so paintings were hung. ‘That name sounds familiar.’</p>
<p>She walked over to a painting of a young woman, sitting in a rocking chair as she read, her dark blond hair partially covering her young face and Elizabeth and Sara’s eyes followed her as she gently touched the painting.</p>
<p>Sara’s jaw dropped as she immediately recognized the young woman in the painting.</p>
<p>‘That’s… that’s me’ she stuttered as she stared with wide eyes.</p>
<p>El followed her gaze as they both got up to get a better look. </p>
<p>‘I knew that name sounded familiar’ said the young woman, pointing to the artist’s signature at the bottom of the painting. ‘This piece is entitled <em>‘Sara’</em>.’</p>
<p>‘Oh, my God’ Elizabeth cried out as she stared ahead, mesmerized. ‘It <em>is </em>you!’</p>
<p>Sara just stood there in a trance, blankly staring at the painting.</p>
<p>’Do you know anything about the artist?’ asked Elizabeth.</p>
<p>‘Not really, I just remembered seeing the name. Oh, and I think there are a few others from that artist…’ she said, as she began moving around the room, pointing to two other pieces. </p>
<p>One was a breathtaking view of the autumn hills, similar to the view Sara had spied from their hotel room that morning and the other was of a man sitting as he sipped an espresso in an outdoor café. Sara wondered if this could be Mike or if it was just some random man Emily had captured on canvas.</p>
<p>She snapped out of her trance, her breathing growing louder and faster. ’Who can tell me about the artist?’ she asked as she began to shake.</p>
<p>‘Nora Lambert runs the tea room and she’s been here for over ten years. I’m sure she could be of help.She works on Wednesdays and Saturdays... so if you want to pop in tomorrow, she might be able to tell you more’ said Hannah as she spied new customers coming in and excused herself to go and greet them.</p>
<p>Sara stood and stared for a few minutes longer, unable to tear her gaze away from her likeness until she felt Elizabeth’s gentle touch bringing her back to reality.</p>
<p>‘This is incredible’ she said. ‘Look at her style – it’s almost identical to Hope’s.’</p>
<p>Elizabeth nodded silently.</p>
<p>‘Come on’ she said, doing her best to pry Sara away. 'We can come back tomorrow.’</p>
<p>It took a few more minutes but Sara finally let herself be led out onto the sunny street.</p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Neal and Peter found their wives having a drink in the Shore Club, the hotel’s bar. After a day of investigative work, they had all worked up a ferocious appetite and were looking forward to sharing their findings over a good bottle of wine and a delicious meal. Sara had researched restaurants before they’d left New York and she had a few suggestions for the foursome. They ended up in the Market area, within walking distance of their hotel at a lovely restaurant called The Blue Cactus. All four of them were feeling restless, aware that they’d been only marginally successful with their outings – the men hoping for a call back from Mike’s ex-boss and the women, eager to go back to the tea room to meet with the woman who might possibly shed some light on Emily’s passage at the Glebe Artists’ Guild.</p>
<p>The tension began to evaporate however as the meal wore on and the wine began to flow with its predictable effects. The couples decided to order a second bottle which they sipped well into the night sharing memories of past holidays and happy times spent together. Their friendship, which had begun in such an unorthodox way, was now rock solid but it had certainly had its ups and downs over the years especially throughout the period when Neal was on anklet and oh so restless. But they’d managed to see the best in each other and now, each knew he could count on the other for whatever hardships came their way.</p>
<p>By eleven o’clock, it was time to make their way back to their temporary home at the Westin in order to get a good night’s sleep. Their mission was far from over.</p>
<p>On Wednesday morning, Sara woke to Neal nibbling on her ear and making some lewd suggestion she couldn’t quite make out but that left little need for interpretation. She rolled over to look at her husband and was greeted by a huge grin and a sultry stare.</p>
<p>‘Good morning’ she said, as she fully came to.</p>
<p>‘Why hello little girl’ Neal whispered lustfully as he buried his face behind her ear once more.</p>
<p>‘What’s this, then?’ giggled Sara. ‘One last hurrah for the gorgeous fifty-one-year-old guy?’</p>
<p>‘Very funny!’ Neal grumbled, undeterred. ‘Every chance you get with the age thing, huh?’ </p>
<p>Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and Sara pried herself from Neal’s tight grasp to grab a robe and answer it.</p>
<p>‘You’ve got to be kidding me’ murmured Neal, under his breath.</p>
<p>‘Breakfast is only served until 9:30!’ Peter announced with his booming voice as he barged into the Caffreys’ room with Elizabeth in tow. ‘Aren’t you two hungry?’</p>
<p>‘Good morning Peter’ said Neal with little conviction as he glanced over at his wife and thought of what could have been. </p>
<p>‘Neal, we got a call this morning’ continued Peter, excited.</p>
<p>This seemed to bring Neal out of his funk and he sat up to look at his partner, his mind returning to business.</p>
<p>‘We have a lunch appointment with a guy named...’ Peter paused to look at the piece of paper he was holding in his hand. ‘...Jason Mason’</p>
<p>‘Are you kidding?’ asked Neal, frowning.</p>
<p>‘About the appointment or the name?’ asked Peter.</p>
<p>‘Both actually, who does that to their kid?’ said Neal, getting out of bed and grabbing a t-shirt off a nearby chair.</p>
<p>‘That’s fantastic news!’ said Sara.</p>
<p>‘And you and I have a date with Earl Grey again today’ said Elizabeth as she took a seat at the nearby desk.</p>
<p>‘All right!’ said Neal, suddenly enthusiastic. ‘Give us twenty minutes and we’ll meet you downstairs.’</p>
<p>He sprinted to the washroom, slowing down to give Sara a playful tap on the bum.</p>
<p>‘Rain check’ he said with a wink.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>The Earl of Sussex Pub was a trendy, local hangout right across the street from the National Art Gallery which Neal had been eyeing ever since they’d gotten to town. He sat, beer in hand and stared out the window admiring its architecture and beauty as it gleamed in the sunlight.</p>
<p>‘I’m starting to think this guy’s not gonna show’ he said, checking his watch and looking over glumly at Peter.</p>
<p>‘Let’s give him another few minutes before we pack it in. Maybe he’s just running late.’</p>
<p>‘Are you Peter Burke?’ said a middle-aged man who seemed to have just appeared in front of their table.</p>
<p>‘Yes. Jason?’ Peter answered. ‘Please, have a seat.’</p>
<p>The man smiled widely and grabbed the remaining chair at the table as he shook hands and explained he’d been detained in a meeting.</p>
<p>‘We really appreciate you meeting with us’ said Neal once they’d finished ordering their food.‘Did Joseph Murray fill you in on why we’re here?’</p>
<p>‘He did. But I’m afraid I don’t have very good news for you’ the man said.</p>
<p>Both men looked at him, brows furrowed, wondering what the bad news could be. Neal hoped it didn’t involve Emily and he held his breath as the man spoke.</p>
<p>‘Mike Foster passed away earlier this year. Mike and Emily were good friends of ours and Emily wrote to my wife to tell her that Mike had died suddenly of a heart attack in London.’</p>
<p>‘I’m sorry to hear that’ said Neal. ‘Were they <em>living</em> in London?’</p>
<p>‘No, they were on vacation. They’d been living in Brussels for the past three years. Mike had retired and they were looking forward to many years enjoying the fruits of their labour. Mike was fluent in French and Emily had learned enough to get by and they loved the city. Mike had worked there many years ago on a project at the Cathédrale des Saints Michel et Gudule and he’d always dreamed of going back. The first summer, my wife Rhonda and I went out to visit them. They had a beautiful place in the country and they were really happy. It’s really too bad they had such a short time together.’</p>
<p>Neal sat on the edge of his seat, oblivious to everything around him as he took a deep breath.</p>
<p>‘Do you know what happened to Emily?’ he finally said.</p>
<p>‘She’s still there, as far as I know’ answered the man, taking a bite of his sandwich.</p>
<p>‘Do you have an actual address where we could get in touch with her?’ Peter asked, wondering if this was really happening. Had they finally come to the end of their long search, was Emily just within reach?</p>
<p>‘I’ll talk to my wife tonight and get it for you’ answered Jason, matter of factly. ‘I can probably get it to you by the end of the day.’</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>‘Hi ladies! Welcome to our little tea room. Have a seat, I’ll be right with you.’</p>
<p>Sara and Elizabeth looked nervously at each other. They both felt like they were on the cusp of finding out more about Emily’s life and perhaps even where she was. The woman, who they hoped was Nora, went back behind the counter and served up a slice of apple cake and a brownie and brought the plates over to a neighbouring table before making her way back to where Sara and Elizabeth were sitting.</p>
<p>‘So, ladies, I hope you have a sweet tooth. I just took an apple and cranberry cake out of the oven and it’s still warm’ she said with a kind smile.</p>
<p>Sara looked at the woman, instantly liking her warm disposition and smiling eyes.</p>
<p>‘We’ll definitely sample that’ she said. ‘But we’ve also come to get some information.’</p>
<p>‘Are you the ladies who were asking about Emily Ellis-Foster?’ she said without hesitation.</p>
<p>‘Yes...’ said Elizabeth.</p>
<p>‘Hannah told me you’d come by yesterday and to be honest’ she added, looking directly at Sara. ‘I would have recognized Emily’s sister anywhere. You look just like her.’</p>
<p>Sara felt a shiver down her back. Could this really be happening? Her eyes sparkled and started to fill with tears, despite her trying to keep it together. Elizabeth picked up on the emotion on Sara’s face and decided to take the lead.</p>
<p>‘Emily left home thirty-five years ago and Sara hasn’t seen her since. She’s hoping to find her and re-connect’ she explained.</p>
<p>Nora looked around at the busy café. ‘Look, give me a few minutes to call in one of our volunteers and I’ll sit and have a chat with you. I also have something I’d like to show you’ she said mysteriously as she walked away, leaving Sara and Elizabeth breathless.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>The architecture of the building was amazing – dome-like with stained glass windows letting in the light and giving the structure a stately appearance. It sat right on Lyon Street in the middle of the Glebe, like a shiny jewel. The building was home to the arts community and housed an art gallery as well as workshop rooms and a large auditorium for seminars and conferences. The three women made their way up the stairs and into the main door, walking straight into a forty foot high lobby which gave the building a regal look.</p>
<p>‘This building originally housed city council chambers but that was eons ago’ said Nora as she walked them through the lobby and towards a smaller, more intimate room. Sara was shaking slightly from all the emotion and the connection with her sister whom she’d lost such a long time ago. </p>
<p>Suddenly, she gasped as she spied the majestic door which they were about to walk through. On it, was an ornate plaque that read ‘<em>Emily Ellis-Foster Gallery’.</em></p>
<p>‘This room is dedicated to new and upcoming artists’ Nora explained.</p>
<p>But her voice was like a faint echo in Sara’s ears. She was feeling faint and she turned to Elizabeth, grabbing her arm as if she feared she might pass out.</p>
<p>‘You all right?’ asked Elizabeth, sensing that Sara was overwhelmed.</p>
<p>Sara nodded but didn’t speak.</p>
<p>‘Emily was a very generous woman but she’d struggled in her early life’ explained Nora. ‘But perhaps you’re more aware of that than I am… She and her husband donated the funding which allowed us to set up this room. Come on in and have a look around.’</p>
<p>The room was small in comparison to the immensity of the building. It had an intimate, homey feel to it, low ceiling, warm colours. All throughout the room, there were pieces of art, paintings, drawings, sculptures and plaques in a variety of styles. Sara thought of the art gallery they were about to open back home and she realized this was exactly the feel they were looking for: cozy, friendly and personal. </p>
<p>‘And over here, are a number of pieces that Emily donated to the Guild to get the room started.’</p>
<p>Sara stared at the dozen or so paintings, mostly in oil but some drawings in pencil, that Nora was pointing to. She recognized many of the places she and Emily had visited in London on their last summer together and there were a few of a young girl in various poses that Sara immediately recognized as herself.</p>
<p>Nora continued. ‘Emily talked about you a lot. As you can see, you were the inspiration for much of her work. She didn’t go into details but she said she’d had a rough childhood and that she’d had to leave her baby sister behind.’</p>
<p>Sara was managing to keep it together despite the fact tears had begun running down her cheeks. She wiped away at them discreetly as if they were merely a nuisance.</p>
<p>As she spoke, Nora began taking down one of the paintings ‘This one has a special dedication’ she said, turning it over.</p>
<p>Sara’s eyes rested on the small, perfectly formed handwriting on the back of the painting. ‘<em>This is Sara, age 12, my beautiful little sister.’</em></p>
<p>At this, Sara began to cry, not bothering to cover it up and before long she was sobbing loudly as both Elizabeth and Nora sat her down, comforting her and reminding her to breathe.</p>
<p>‘I’m so sorry. I guess I underestimated how overwhelming this would be for you.’</p>
<p>Through her tears, Sara looked at the woman who’d been her sister’s friend. ‘Do you know where Emily is?’ she asked.</p>
<p>Nora nodded. ’She left three years ago to live in Brussels and I’m still in touch with her’ she said, bringing her arm to rest around Sara’s shoulder.</p>
<p>Sara gasped and promptly passed out.</p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>‘Hi hon’ Elizabeth said into the phone. ‘How are you guys doing?’</p>
<p>‘Great! I think we finally have a solid lead on where to find Emily. She’s in...</p>
<p>‘Brussels!’ they both said at the same time.</p>
<p>‘I guess I don’t need to ask how you two are doing, then’ said Peter, grinning.</p>
<p>‘Actually, we’re doing a little <em>too </em>well. Sara’s… well, she’s feeling a little overwhelmed. I think she really needs Neal right now’ Elizabeth added.</p>
<p>‘Why? What’s wrong?’</p>
<p>‘She’s fine now but she… she passed out. Can you guys come down here?’</p>
<p>Within twenty minutes, the men were walking into the imposing building on Lyon Street, marvelling at the beauty of the building’s architecture and its splendor in the middle of what was, for all intents and purposes, a residential area.</p>
<p>Having been informed of Sara’s plight, Neal was rather eager to lay eyes on her. He and Peter were directed to a small room off the main area where they found their wives huddled together on a bench along with another woman who was hovering over Sara.</p>
<p>Neal ran the last few steps and Elizabeth stood, surrendering her spot next to Sara.</p>
<p>‘Hey sweetie…’ Neal murmured, solicitous, as he settled next to her. ‘What’s going on?’</p>
<p>‘Hi’ she murmured, relieved to see him. ‘I’m all right, I’m all right.’</p>
<p>She didn’t look all that great to him. Her face was pale and he noticed her hand was clammy when he reached for it. Neal looked over at Elizabeth, hoping for a more accurate accounting of what was going on.</p>
<p>‘Things just got a little intense for a minute and she passed out.’</p>
<p>Sara looked up at Nora who was hovering nearby with a glass of water in her hand. ‘Honey, this is Nora Lambert, she’s a friend of Emily’s.’</p>
<p>Neal smiled and nodded but returned his attention to Sara.</p>
<p>‘Here, why don’t you have another sip’ Nora said, handing over the glass.</p>
<p>Neal reached for it and prepared to place it on his wife’s lips when Sara shooed his hand away. She took a quick drink, her mind returning to the discovery they’d just made.</p>
<p>‘Neal...’ she said, her voice trembling. ‘You have to see this.’</p>
<p>She stood, her legs shaking as Neal held her arm. With Peter and Elizabeth following closely behind, they walked over to the small room Sara had visited moments earlier. Neal’s eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the plaque on the door. He stepped inside the room which was chock full of amazing art and his eyes roamed the room, finally settling on the likeness of his wife as a young girl and he smiled in recognition. </p>
<p>‘She donated the space for new artists’ Sara explained as Neal made his way around the room to better examine the pieces.</p>
<p>‘These are hers’ Sara added, pointing to a grouping of several oil paintings.</p>
<p>Neal stared, mouth agape. ’This is so much like...’</p>
<p>‘...like Hope’s work, I know’ Sara added.</p>
<p>Neal’s hand lingered on the surface of the oil canvas. ’It’s… amazing, the similarities. The style, the colours, the medium... it’s... uncanny.’</p>
<p>He turned to look at his wife who, he could see, was struggling again with the sensory overload.</p>
<p>‘Honey, I think you should sit down’ he advised, spotting a chair nearby.</p>
<p>Her breathing grew ragged. ‘It’s a little overwhelming’ she admitted, an understatement to be sure.</p>
<p>Neal turned to address Nora Lambert. ‘How did you know Emily?'</p>
<p>‘She was a member of our guild. She’s a very loving, giving person, very generous. She wanted up and coming artists to have a place to show their work. She felt that people didn’t always get the break they deserved and she felt very lucky that there’d been people in her life who’d helped her through some rough times.’</p>
<p>Neal nodded, his mind wandering momentarily to Gus, Mrs. Moore, Katherine Baker and now Nora Lambert, all people who’d been on Emily’s path. He continued to look around the room, reflecting on the vision he and Sara had for their new gallery and he instantly felt a kinship with his sister-in-law, whom he had still not met. </p>
<p>‘Here’s the e-mail address I promised you’ said Nora handing Sara a piece of paper.</p>
<p>She just stared down at it, paralyzed, unable or too frightened to take it. If she reached out and took the piece of paper, she would be committing to going all the way, to finally coming face to face with her sister after all these years and that thought enthralled her and terrified her in equal measures.</p>
<p>Sensing her hesitation, Neal put out his hand to take the piece of paper and Sara realized she wasn’t alone. Whatever transpired from this moment on, Neal would be by her side every step of the way.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>By early evening, Sara was beginning to return to her old self and ease out of the trance she’d been in since early that afternoon. It had been a shock, to be sure, and she was still working through it all as the fog gently lifted.</p>
<p>Although they were mere inches from the finish line in their search for Emily, she refused Neal’s offer to make immediate contact with her. Finding out her sister was alive, learning the details of her last few years, seeing the art work she’d produced and the role she’d played in inspiring her… it was all too much all at once. She needed a day or so to think things through and figure out the best way to reach out.</p>
<p>Should she send an e-mail, shocking her after all this time? Would it be better to get someone else to reach out and prepare Emily for the inevitable shock? Did she want to call her? Hop on plane and find her?</p>
<p>She decided to wait a day before making a decision. The next day was Neal’s birthday as well as their last day in Ottawa and she’d planned a whole day of activities for the foursome. He’d been instrumental in getting them this far and she wanted him to enjoy the last day they had in this wonderful city.</p>
<p>Sara and Elizabeth had arranged for the hotel to prepare a picnic lunch for them. Ever since they’d arrived, Neal had been itching to take a hike through those beautiful hills across the river from where they were. He’d also mentioned his interest in visiting the National Art Gallery which housed some of the most beautiful art in the world.</p>
<p>The morning was spent strolling through the gallery’s permanent collections of Canadian, Indigenous and Asian art as well as the current exhibition of Impressionists – Neal’s all time favourite period.</p>
<p>By noon, they made their way across the river to the Champlain Lookout, jewel of the Gatineau Hills, which afforded an amazing view of the river and straight across to the city on the other side. They hiked through some trails, enjoying the incredibly beautiful autumn colours, leaves in rich hues of red, orange, yellow and brown creating an indescribable patchwork of earthy shades and tones.</p>
<p>Upon coming to an eating area, they settled down to enjoy the feast prepared by the hotel staff.Neal had brought along his sketching pad and after their copious lunch, he settled at the foot of a tree, preparing to capture the beauty around them.</p>
<p>Peter yawned and grabbed for the warm blanket they’d brought along. The next thing they knew, he’d settled with Elizabeth under a tree, murmuring softly as they prepared for an after lunch snooze.</p>
<p>‘Happy?’ Sara asked as she sat herself down next to Neal.</p>
<p>He smiled that brilliant smile of his. ‘Very’ he replied as he leaned over to kiss her. ‘Thanks for today, it’s been perfect.’</p>
<p>She sighed, content. ’I wanted you to have a special day… you deserve it’ she said as she laced her arm in his and lay her head on his shoulder.</p>
<p>They grew quiet, admiring the beauty surrounding them. Sara watched in wonder as the pastel in Neal’s expert hand began to glide down the makeshift canvas, effortlessly capturing the intense colours all around. She didn’t often get to see him mid-process and she smiled contentedly at the sight of his intense gaze as he worked.</p>
<p>He stopped suddenly and looked at her.</p>
<p>‘Are you having second thoughts about waiting? I mean, we can reach out to her right now’ he said as he held up his phone.</p>
<p>Sara took a deep cleansing breath of fresh autumn air. ‘No’ she said. ‘I’m still processing.’</p>
<p>He pulled away to get a better look at her, sensing uncertainty in her voice.</p>
<p>‘Honey, you’re not still worried, are you? You know she’ll be thrilled to hear from you.’</p>
<p>‘I don’t know Neal… it’s just… it’s been thirty-five long years. So much has changed. What if she’s not the person I remember? What if <em>I’m</em> not the person <em>she</em> remembers?’</p>
<p>Neal put down his sketching pad, bringing his arms around his wife and pulling her in to him.</p>
<p>‘What I saw yesterday didn’t look like it was painted by someone who didn’t care about her baby sister’ he commented.</p>
<p>‘She could love me but… not want me back in her life’ Sara murmured, her voice growing quiet.</p>
<p>Neal sighed. ’Babe, why are you hesitating?’</p>
<p>She wiped a tear which had rolled down her cheek. ‘I don’t know… just scared I guess.’</p>
<p>‘Tell you what’ he said as he gave her a firm squeeze. ‘Let’s enjoy today and let things settle and tomorrow, we’ll sit down and make a plan to reach out to her.’</p>
<p>Sara nodded. She could handle that.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>A walk back through the colourful trails brought them to their original starting point and they slowly made their way back to civilization, finishing the day on the Market, shopping for a few odds and ends to bring home to the kids and souvenirs of their impromptu holiday.</p>
<p>Sara had arranged for dinner in Chelsea, a beautiful little village nearby that was known for its incredible restaurants and the four friends settled down to a gastronomic feast. To Neal’s delight, Sara seemed to be relaxing more as the day wore on. If she was happy, he was happy and he sat back, enjoying the wine Sara had ordered, one of his favourites.</p>
<p>The conversation flowed as the couples reminisced about moments shared over the years to which they would soon be adding memories of this wonderful holiday. Except for the epilogue, which would be written soon, their long journey to find Emily had finally come to an end.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>Teddy Winters (aka Mozzie, Dante Haversham, Barry Soetoro...) had always thought of himself as a self-made man. Over the years, he’d had to reinvent himself so many times, he’d begun to think of himself as a chameleon. But there’d been one constant in his life over the past thirty years and that was his enduring friendship and partnership with Neal Caffrey. They’d been together through good times and bad, through ups and downs and everything in between and if there was one thing Mozzie had learned over time, it was that if Neal was happy, he was happy. </p>
<p>And Neal was definitely happy. </p>
<p>Over time, Mozzie had carried on with some of his crazy antics but the yearning for adventure had definitely faded and he found himself surprisingly content with his circle of friends which now included, strangely enough, Suit and Mrs. Suit, who he had to admit was one of his favourite people in the world. Neal’s request that Mozzie be Liam’s godfather had definitely been a turning point in his life. After years of thinking only of himself, he had the responsibility for someone else, someone who was vulnerable and although uncle Mozzie could never be described as a model citizen, he did have a heart of gold and a sense of right and wrong many law-abiding individuals never developed. He took his role very seriously and had taken Liam under his wings, making sure the young man learned to stand up for himself – much like he had done with Neal thirty years earlier but without the criminal intent. </p>
<p>With Neal and Sara out of town, Mozzie had been making sure the kids were well taken care of. He had taken up residence on the fold out couch in the family room and had been preparing nutritious meals, taxiing the kids to their school activities and generally hanging around Meadowbrook Street playing house.</p>
<p>On Thursday night, he packed up the kids in the car and shuttled them over to Brooklyn where the Lenox School Griffons were hosting the Ridgemont Tigers. Ridgemont was on top of the standings with eighteen points but the Griffons were hot on their heels with sixteen. These were the top two teams in the New York area and the gym was packed to the rafters for this exciting game. Mozzie and Hope settled in on the bleachers cheering loudly as the teams took to the floor. </p>
<p>Truth was, Mozzie had been somewhat worried about his godson, who seemed out of sorts and really low on energy. He’d barely touched his dinner and Mozzie had given him the option of staying home and foregoing the game but Liam wouldn’t hear of it – after all, he was nothing if not a loyal teammate and Ridgemont counted on him a lot considering the fact he was their top scorer.</p>
<p>The first quarter buzzer sounded and the teams had just reached their respective benches when Mozzie spotted a commotion over on the Tigers’ bench. The coach stood over one of the players and motioned for the trainer to come over. Mozzie looked on in horror as he saw a couple of the players helping one of their teammates to the floor as he slipped into unconsciousness. The mop of blond dark hair left no room for error. It was Liam.</p>
<p>Mozzie and Hope made their way down the bleachers in record time to where everyone was huddled. Liam lay there with sweat glistening on his brow, as white as a sheet.</p>
<p>‘Call 911’ shouted the coach.</p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>‘Neal Caffrey... you are drunk!’ declared Sara as Neal swooped down, pushing her onto the bed and landing on top of her.</p>
<p>‘Lil bit’ he replied lazily as he began nibbling at her neck. ‘S’my birthday, I’m allowed’ he added, looking down at her with lustful eyes.</p>
<p>‘Yes, you are’ Sara said mischievously. ‘And I <em>did </em>promise you one last birthday gift.’</p>
<p>Neal wagged his eyebrows suggestively and began to unbutton her blouse slowly and deliberately, reaching inside and running his hands languidly over her soft, silky skin. Wherever they were in the world, they were home when they were together and the familiarity of his wife’s warm body elicited a soft groan from Neal’s lips as he prepared to enjoy the perfect ending to a wonderful birthday. His eyes fluttered shut and with the slightest of nudges, he let himself fall onto his back, abandoning control to Sara who took advantage of the change in positions to climb onto his lap, straddling him. She grabbed his wrists, leaning down to hold them captive over his head.</p>
<p>‘Gotcha’ she murmured naughtily as he smiled back at her with half hooded eyes.</p>
<p>‘Be gentle with me’ he said playfully as she began undressing him.</p>
<p>She loved him like this, relaxed and carefree. Back in the day, he’d been a total control freak, not daring to show any cracks in his polished veneer. Letting himself get tipsy never would have happened back then, it would have meant giving over some control to his mark and jeopardizing whatever con he was running at the time. But these days, he was more than happy to relinquish control and let his sexy wife take the lead, especially between the sheets.</p>
<p>He began thrusting his hips suggestively and Sara giggled in response, reaching for his belt and tugging.</p>
<p>‘What are you <em>doing</em>?’ he asked coyly, feigning trepidation at her advances.</p>
<p>She laughed throatily. ‘Oh you have no idea what I’ve got in mind for you Caffrey.’</p>
<p>He groaned and pulled her in, letting his hand linger under the edge of her bra as he pushed it up, instantly freeing her breasts. The room was spinning slightly as he found her smiling face with his unfocussed eyes.</p>
<p>‘Well hello girls’ he murmured lewdly as he reached for her, his tongue darting out in anticipation.</p>
<p>She giggled at the sight of him grinning fiendishly, her breath hitching as his lips latched onto her nipple and began sucking noisily. He tugged with his teeth, making lewd noises and Sara began to feel that oh so familiar sensation deep in the pit of her stomach. </p>
<p>‘Caffrey…’ she whispered.</p>
<p>He chuckled impishly and kept working, his hands wandering up and down her naked thigh. He’d just flipped her onto her back when his phone rang a few feet away.</p>
<p>‘If that’s Peter, I swear to God I’m going to kill him’ he grumbled as Sara attempted to slip out from under him. </p>
<p>It was late and everyone knew that late night phone calls were rarely the harbinger of good news. Neal did his best to hold her down but in his less than focussed state, she managed to slip away, leaving him hanging and none too pleased. She reached for the phone, squinting to read the name of the caller.</p>
<p>‘Hey, I was in the middle of something here’ Neal complained, reaching for her.</p>
<p>Her face grew serious. ’It’s Mozzie’ she said as she handed him the phone.</p>
<p>He sat up, the playfulness leaving his eyes as suddenly as the air out of punctured balloon.</p>
<p>‘Hey Moz, what’s up?’ he said, slightly slurring.</p>
<p>‘Neal, something’s happened to Liam. He’s been taken to hospital’ Mozzie said without preamble.</p>
<p>‘Hospital? What do youmean?’ Neal said, instantly sobering up.</p>
<p>Sara sat next to him straining to hear and he switched to hands free mode as Mozzie’s voice suddenly filled their hotel room.</p>
<p>‘He was at his basketball game and he passed out’ Mozzie explained, his breathing uneven.</p>
<p>Sara grew pale. ‘What do you mean, passed out? Did he hit his head?’ she asked as she and Neal stared at each other with consternation.</p>
<p>‘No!He was sitting on the bench and suddenly, he was on the floor and they were calling 911’ said Mozzie, panic apparent in his voice.</p>
<p>‘So what’s going on, have they told you anything?’ Neal asked, eyes wide as he stared off into space.</p>
<p>‘Not yet, they’re running tests and they want to keep him here until they figure out what caused it.’</p>
<p>‘Is he… is he conscious?’ asked Sara, panic setting in.</p>
<p>‘He wasn’t when they brought him in and they haven’t let me and Hope see him yet’ Mozzie was sounding more and more upset.</p>
<p>Neal did his best to fight off the last of the effects of the fine wine, his mind growing increasingly focussed.</p>
<p>‘Look Moz, call the minute you hear anything. Sara and I are going to get on the next flight out.What hospital are you at?’ he asked, taking control of the situation.</p>
<p>‘Brookdale. Call and let me know what time your flight gets in, okay?’</p>
<p>He hesitated for a moment. ‘But don’t worry, Neal, I’m not going anywhere.’</p>
<p>The sudden interruption of their romantic interlude spurred them into immediate action and Sara made her way to their laptop to search out the time of the next available flight while Neal ran to the room next door to let Peter and Elizabeth know they would be leaving as soon as possible. Although he insisted they stay and spend the last day of their planned holiday, Peter and Elizabeth wouldn’t hear of it and by 3:30 in the morning, all four of them were in a queue at the airport awaiting their 5:00 a.m. flight.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>They sat on the plane, hands clasped, deep in thought, their faces riddled with worry.</p>
<p>‘I shouldn’t have waited for that appointment’ Neal said, guilt getting the better of him. 'I should have insisted we go to the clinic.'</p>
<p>‘It’s not your fault, I could see he wasn’t feeling well. I should have pushed more’ Sara replied, squeezing his hand.</p>
<p>‘We should never have left town. I’ll never forgive myself if....’ Neal began.</p>
<p>‘Stop it Neal, don’t even go there. You couldn’t have known.’</p>
<p>Neal stared out the airplane window, seeing the sun beginning to rise on the horizon and he shook his head in disbelief, consumed with worry. He tried to imagine Liam, lying in a hospital bed, left to fend for himself without his mom and dad by his side. Their son possessed his own brand of quiet strength but he had none of the forcefulness and intensity his sister had and Neal tended to worry about him more than he ever had about his daughter. Whereas Hope was outspoken and fiery, Liam tended to be laid back, preferring to go with the flow and in the process, making him much more vulnerable and keeping everyone guessing as to his state of mind.</p>
<p>He thought back to the circumstances surrounding Liam’s birth and how he’d been, for all intents and purposes, their miracle baby. Sara’s battle with ovarian cancer while Hope was just a toddler had left them wondering if they would ever be able to have another child. Then, one fall morning after dropping Hope off for her first day of school, Sara had announced that she needed to make a stop at the drugstore on the way to the office. He recalled the two of them sitting in the bathroom of their new home, he on the edge of the tub and she on the toilet as they waited for the results of her pregnancy test. The excitement had been palpable. Sara’s pregnancy with Hope had been unexpected and they’d never been able to share that wonderful moment ofpure elation when they finally peeked at the pee stick to find that elusive positive sign. Little Liam had given them that and they’d been deliriously happy.</p>
<p>He’d arrived in the world, without fanfare, following a very short labor and when he’d been placed in Neal’s arms, he’d looked up serenely at his dad, his fair hair and complexion so different from his sister’s dark features. His first few months had coincided with a particularly difficult time in his parents’ lives as Sara struggled with postpartum depression and Neal fought to recover from a car accident he’d had in the months preceding his birth. And through it all, he’d been the perfect baby, his calm disposition in direct contrast to his sister’s forceful, intense nature. With time, Liam had begun to give his parents glimpses of his unique personality often keeping them guessing as he came into his own.</p>
<p>Neal glanced over at his wife, lost in thought, and he squeezed her hand once more as he smiled meekly at her. She was still reeling from the news their baby boy had been whisked away to hospital and she hadn’t been there for him. How could she not have seen this coming? Despite Liam’s protests that she was coddling him, she should have pushed harder and listened to her instincts. She’d known for weeks he wasn’t feeling well and yet, she hadn’t wanted to push.</p>
<p>Learning to relate to her son had often left Sara feeling challenged. His quiet, sweet disposition, so different from her own <em>bull in a china shop</em> approach to life had forced her to take a few steps back and work at finding ways of connecting with him. That meant a lot of observing and listening and asking questions, digging under the surface and not giving up until she could figure out what was on his mind. In contrast, Hope didn’t hesitate to get right in your face and she never shied away from speaking up about anything that happened to be on her mind. She could give as good she got and Sara never worried about crushing her spirit but Liam… he was a sweet, gentle soul and everything seemed to be happening under the surface. She needed to tread lightly and learn to love him in the way he needed to be loved.</p>
<p>Neal’s voice brought her back to the here and now. ’It’s going to be okay’ he murmured.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>With Peter and Elizabeth in tow, Sara and Neal arrived at Brookdale Hospital just before 9:00. They were greeted by Mozzie and Hope who’d spent the night waiting for news on some very uncomfortable and hard plastic chairs. Hope was the first to spot them arriving and she threw herself in her mom’s arms the moment she was them walk through the emergency room door.</p>
<p>Neal’s eyes went immediately to Mozzie. ’So what’s going on?’</p>
<p>Mozzie looked horrible, his unkempt clothes even more wrinkled than usual and bags under his eyes that would likely qualify for their very own zip code. Neal knew what a stretch it was for a man like Mozzie to spend a night in a hospital emergency room and he appreciated his efforts to curtail his paranoia until they got there.</p>
<p>‘The doctors were waiting for you to get here’ Mozzie explained. ‘They wouldn’t tell us anything.’</p>
<p>‘Have you seen him, yet?’ Sara asked Hope.</p>
<p>The teenager looked up, bleary eyed. ’No, they wouldn’t let us see him. They’ve been running tests most of the night.’</p>
<p>Neal made his way to the reception desk, letting them know they’d arrived and returned to the group that had congregated around Hope and Mozzie. El had made a coffee and muffin run and was busy passing out food and drinks as only Elizabeth Burke could.</p>
<p>Within a few minutes, Neal and Sara were redirected to another room at the back of the emergency ward while the rest of the group was instructed to remain in the waiting area.</p>
<p>‘This is crazy’ Neal said as he paced the small room.</p>
<p>Sara took a seat, her hands shaking as she tried to keep it together. When it came to their kids, the golden rule in their relationship was that only one of them could fall apart at any given time and she struggled to keep from totally losing her shit.</p>
<p>‘Honey, sit down... please’ she urged as Neal continued to pace furiously.</p>
<p>Why had he waited to call the doctor’s office? He’d been so focussed on the search for Emily that he’d underestimated what Liam had confided in him. Healthy, robust kids didn’t pass out for no reason.</p>
<p>‘What the hell’s taking so long?’ he muttered under his breath.</p>
<p>He’d barely gotten the words out when a young woman stepped in clad in a lab coat with a stethoscope hanging from her neck.</p>
<p>‘Mr. and Mrs. Caffrey, I’m Dr. Jeffries. Please have a seat.’</p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>‘Diabetes? How can that possibly be?’</p>
<p>Sara was losing it. She stood, frantic, as Neal touched her arm in an effort to calm her down enough so they could hear the specifics of what the doctor was attempting to explain.</p>
<p>The young woman, who had identified herself as Dr. Jeffries, had barely been in the room two minutes when Sara, seeing Neal was now in full possession of his faculties, had fallen apart. The word ‘diabetes’ conjured up all kinds of scary images for her, memories of her maternal grandmother who’d suffered from late onset diabetes and had died of complications when Sara was a little girl. All she remembered was that it was a horrible disease and she sure as hell didn’t want her son suffering from it.</p>
<p>‘Your son’s level of insulin was practically non-existent and he lapsed into a diabetic coma’ explained Dr. Jeffries. ‘That’s why he lost consciousness.’</p>
<p>‘But….’ Sara interrupted as Neal raised a hand to stop her and give the doctor a chance to continue.</p>
<p>‘Mrs. Caffrey, why don’t you take a seat and I’ll do my best to explain all this to you.’ said Dr. Jeffries, sensing Sara’s increasing alarm.</p>
<p>Neal took her arm, dragging her back to where they’d been sitting and she followed reluctantly, taking a seat and facing the doctor. </p>
<p>‘I need a bit more information about Liam’s symptoms. Have you noticed him being particularly tired lately?’ the doctor asked, as she began taking notes on a clipboard.</p>
<p>‘Yeah, we have’ Neal admitted. ‘He’s been lacking energy, even lethargic at times. I guess it’s been going on for a few weeks now but we thought it was just hormones…’</p>
<p>Seeing Sara’s distress and perhaps interpreting where it was coming from, Dr. Jeffries spoke up. ‘First off, I want to reassure both of you that you haven’t done anything wrong. Many symptoms of diabetes and other serious illnesses can be masked and you don’t want to start chastising yourselves for not recognizing the signs.’</p>
<p>Neal nodded. Sara continued staring ahead, speechless.</p>
<p>‘Type one diabetes is a chronic disease in which the pancreas no longer produces insulin, the hormone that helps your body control the level of sugar in your blood. Without insulin, glucose builds up in your blood instead of being used for energy. Through a urine test, we were able to ascertain that Liam had high levels of glucose. Has he been particularly thirsty lately?’</p>
<p>Neal shrugged as he thought back over the last few weeks. ’Not that I’ve noticed…’ he said before thinking better of it.</p>
<p>’I don’t know, maybe…’ he said as he turned to look at Sara. ‘The other night at the restaurant, remember? He ordered three drinks. That was odd, come to think of it.’</p>
<p>Sara was practically catatonic, just staring ahead in silence.</p>
<p>Doctor Jeffries continued. ‘Teenagers are notorious for not telling us everything.’</p>
<p>‘We went away this past week…’ said Sara, trance-like.</p>
<p>‘It’s possible you wouldn’t have seen the signs even if you’d been here’ said the doctor, reassuringly. ‘What about weight loss?’</p>
<p>‘That I did notice’ replied Neal. ‘And his appetite seemed to fluctuate, sometimes he was picky and then at times, he wouldn’t stop eating… and he had a sore on his genitals that he showed me. I had made an appointment to have him seen by our family doctor next Monday.’</p>
<p>‘Those are all symptoms of diabetes’ said Dr. Jeffries, her voice calm.</p>
<p>After a few moments, Sara couldn’t contain herself any longer. ‘Can we see him?’ she asked, sitting on the edge of her chair.</p>
<p>‘Sure. He’s awake now. We’ve given him some insulin and we’re monitoring his blood sugar levels. He’s still a little out of it and he’s feeling run down.’</p>
<p>Sara was up like a shot, followed by Neal as the doctor led them out of the small room they were in and down to the hall to the emergency room where they could see a dozen or so beds separated by curtains, giving patients some privacy, albeit minimal.</p>
<p>Dr. Jeffries took them to the bed at the very end and pulled the curtain back revealing Liam, laying there with his eyes closed, looking very pale and oh so frail.</p>
<p>Sara rushed to his side, rustling the curtain as she went and making Liam jump. He opened his eyes, looking disoriented then finally seeing his parents on either side of him, he smiled, relieved.</p>
<p>‘Hi, guys’ he said rather weakly.</p>
<p>‘Hey, buddy’ said Neal as he touched his hair and brushed a wayward strand off his forehead. ‘You gave us quite a scare.’</p>
<p>Sara still hadn’t spoken, knowing full well that the moment she opened her mouth, she would break down and start crying. She looked from Liam’s face to Neal’s, sniffling and taking Liam’s hand in hers. He wasn’t normally a touchy-feely kid and he hated it when she mollycoddled him or showed any public displays of affection but this time, he let his hand rest limply in hers, welcoming her reassuring touch.</p>
<p>‘What’s wrong with me?’ he asked, looking at his dad.</p>
<p>‘Your blood sugar was too high and you lost consciousness’ Neal explained, figuring he’d keep it to the basics for the moment. There would be plenty of time for labels and explanations. For now, he just wanted to reassure him and keep him calm.</p>
<p>‘Can I come home?’ he asked.</p>
<p>‘We’ll have to let the doctor decide that’ Neal replied.</p>
<p>The next few hours turned into a crash course in ‘Diabetes 101’ as Neal and Sara struggled to understand the intricacies of the disease and the implications for their son. They were getting the message that, although this was a serious illlness that could result in some life threatening situations, this was a condition that could be successfully treated if well managed. There was no room for mistakes though. Sugar levels had to be monitored several times a day and diet and exercise played a major role in the balancing act.</p>
<p>While they met with the specialist, Hope sat with Liam who had finally been admitted to a room, teasing him mercilessly as she challenged him to a game of cards. By mid-afternoon, Neal and Sara had been dismissed for the day with a promise of a meeting with a dietician the next morning as they both made their way back to Liam’s room.</p>
<p>He looked a little more alert, although he was beginning to droop and he smiled at his parents as they walked into his room.</p>
<p>‘So, who’s winning?’ asked Neal, feigning nonchalance as he was expertly able to do. </p>
<p>‘Hope, as usual’ said Liam, sounding defeated in all senses of the word. ‘So, am I coming home?’</p>
<p>Neal and Sara exchanged knowing looks. Dr. Jeffries had passed his case over to the endocrinology department which specialized in the treatment of diabetes and Liam had been admitted for a few days while his sugar levels were stabilized and he and his parents were properly educated in the care and management of his disease.</p>
<p>Neal sat on the edge of his bed, letting his hand linger on his son’s arm. ‘Not for a couple of days’ he said. ‘They need to make sure everything is under control before letting you come home.’</p>
<p>Liam’s face dropped, disappointed.</p>
<p>‘I need to sleep’ he said as he put his head back on his pillow in an effort at deflection.</p>
<p>Neal ran his hand through his hair. ’Okay… get some sleep. Are you okay if Mom and I go home and change? We’ll be back in a couple of hours.’</p>
<p>Liam nodded, his eyes already closed.</p>
<p>Sara leaned in and kissed his forehead. ’We’ll be back before you know it and one of us will spend the night here with you.’</p>
<p>‘Moooom! I’m not a baby!’ he whined, sounding younger than his years.</p>
<p>‘We know you’re not a baby’ said Neal, calmly.</p>
<p>‘You don’t need to stay with me.’</p>
<p>‘Why don’t we talk about that when we come back’ Neal said, putting off the inevitable argument until later.</p>
<p>Sara held her son’s hand, unwilling to let him go. She flashed back to all the moments in her life when she’d tried to make things better for her little boy: bandaging his knee at age two when he’d fallen off the swing at the park, comforting him when he’d cried on the first day of school, consoling him when, in grade three, he’d come home after that bully Jeremy Wilson had tried to take his lunch money. Her job was to always be there for him and make his hurt go away but now they were faced with something she couldn’t fix.</p>
<p>‘Have a good sleep sweetie’ she murmured as she kissed his forehead once more.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>Neal had been sitting in a chair by Liam’s bed for the past four hours, trying to concentrate on his book and glancing at his son every few minutes. He was sleeping soundly and had been snoozing off and on since Neal had returned from showering and changing his clothes. He heard a noise outside Liam’s room and looked up to find Mozzie standing in the doorway, looking every bit as one might expect Mozzie to look in a hospital setting – anxious and hesitant.</p>
<p>Neal rose and stepped out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him.</p>
<p>‘How is he doing?’</p>
<p>‘He’s sleeping’ Neal replied, his voice low. ‘It’s diabetes, Moz.’</p>
<p>‘What? How?’ I can’t believe I didn’t see this coming?’</p>
<p>‘None of us did’ Neal replied. 'He’s been tired lately and his system has been getting increasingly weak because he wasn’t producing any insulin. It’s nobody’s fault. Thank God you got him here in time.’</p>
<p>Mozzie’s concern turned to Neal. ‘Are <em>you</em> okay?’</p>
<p>Neal shrugged. ’I will be. Once we fully understand what this disease is all about and how we can help him stay healthy. Sara’s a bit of a mess though. Apparently, her grandmother died of diabetes when she was little and she’s having trouble disassociating that from what’s happening to Liam.’</p>
<p>Mozzie glanced into the room. ‘You should be with her. Why don’t you go home and let me stay with him tonight?’</p>
<p>Neal smiled, touched by Mozzie’s generous offer. ‘It’s okay Moz. I know how much you hate hospitals and besides, I’m already here.’</p>
<p>Mozzie frowned. ‘Neal, I’m not taking no for an answer. I had a few glasses of wine before coming so I’m feeling… mellow plus I need to finish reading this amazing book I started’ he said, pointing to the hardcover in his hand.</p>
<p>Neal glanced at the title <em>‘The first Martian invasion: cause of the stock market crash of 1929?’ </em>and he chuckled to himself.</p>
<p>‘I promise I’ll call you right away if anything changes.’</p>
<p>Neal weighed the offer. It sure would be nice to sleep in his own bed. And he wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on Sara so she didn’t descend into full blown paranoia.</p>
<p>Sensing his indecision, Mozzie offered one last argument. ‘I’m his godfather for heavens sake. Are you gonna deprive me of spending quality time with my namesake?’</p>
<p>‘You’re serious’ Neal said.</p>
<p>Mozzie nodded. ‘Now get out of here before I change my mind.’</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>Neal made his way up the stairs, turning off lights as he went. It was almost midnight and it had been a very stressful and eventful twenty-four hours. </p>
<p>‘Neal?’ Sara called out as he climbed the last few steps up to the second floor landing.</p>
<p>‘Yeah, it’s me’ he answered, walking into their bedroom.</p>
<p>Sara bolted upright as he stepped through the door. ’What’s wrong? Why are you home?’</p>
<p>‘<em>Nothing’s</em> wrong, honey. Mozzie came by and he insisted I come home and get some sleep. He’s going to stay the night with Liam’ he said, his voice rough.</p>
<p>He’d just let himself fall heavily on the edge of the bed and was taking off his shoes and socks when he heard sobs coming from Sara’s side of the bed. She had held it together in front of the kids but now that they were in the privacy of their bedroom with Neal there to pick up the pieces, she was finally letting it all go.</p>
<p>He settled in the bed and opened his arms to her.</p>
<p>‘Hey, hey, hey’ he said soothingly as he pulled her to him.</p>
<p>‘He’s just a baby...’ she cried.</p>
<p>He scoffed. ’First off, he’s not a baby’ he said. ‘He’s a very capable kid and once we get this all figured out, we can help him deal with it. People live long, happy lives with diabetes. You heard the doctor, it’s all about balance.’</p>
<p>The sobbing quieted somewhat and he felt her smooshing her face into his chest, sniffling softly. He felt her nod against him as he felt the wetness of her tears pooling onto his shirt. Who said she was the hard as nails one of the pair? She was a sap when it came to their kids.</p>
<p>He brought his lips to rest on her forehead. ‘I promise… it’ll be all right’ he murmured softly.</p>
<p>They lay together, bodies intertwined, wondering what challenges lay ahead for Liam and how they might help him face this curve ball life had thrown at him. Although they were both exhausted, sleep did not come easy.</p>
<p>TBC</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was January 20th and New Yorkers were knee-deep in a particularly nasty and snowy winter. The holidays were behind them and everyone was looking forward to an early spring.</p>
<p>Liam Caffrey took out his test kit and set it up on the table as everyone in the busy cafeteria prepared for lunch. It had been three months since his diagnosis and he was beginning to get the hang of testing his blood sugar levels before every meal. Some of the girls thought it was really cool and had gotten into the habit of gathering around him like he was some sort of celebrity as he began to prepare the materials he needed to carry out the test. As the lancet pricked his skin, Cara Hughes let out an admiring howl.</p>
<p>‘Wow, that’s so cool’ she said, smiling at Liam.</p>
<p>She’d never been impressed with his prowess in sports, his physical attributes or his winning ways.She was more interested in a future career in health care and she loved biology and things most other girls found gory. She enjoyed spending time with Liam and watching him carry out his glucose test - and Liam wasn’t complaining.</p>
<p>He made a slight sound, feigning discomfort and he spied Cara’s reaction out of the corner of his eye.</p>
<p>‘Does that hurt?’ she asked, concerned as she touched his arm.</p>
<p>‘Not much’ said Liam.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>‘And I want that stand over there by the corner’ Neal called out to a member of the crew he’d hired to pull together the last few details for the gallery opening.</p>
<p>‘Dad, where do you want this one?’ Hope asked as she came up the stairs, carrying a large framed canvas.</p>
<p>‘Put it over there for now. Honey, you still haven’t told me the sequence you want on those cottage paintings’ Neal countered as he checked the plans he had spread out on the table in front of him.</p>
<p>The gallery opening was forty-eight hours away and most of the art work had arrived. Neal had been working for weeks on the display for each piece, its position, height, placement and lighting and thankfully, the downstairs portion of the gallery had been complete now for a few days.</p>
<p>Upstairs was a different matter. That was where he would be showing off Hope’s work as well as his own and although he’d been on his daughter’s case for weeks to finalize her choice of pieces, he had given very little thought to his own selections and now he was rushing to have it all ready before opening day. He was also adding one more artist to the mix and he had to figure out how to give this worthy painter the space her work so richly deserved.</p>
<p>Sara walked up the stairs followed by three other volunteers carrying large vases of orchids in a variety of bright colours. She began placing them in various spots in the room.</p>
<p>‘Neal, I think I want to wait until all the art work’s up before I commit to placing these vases’ she said.</p>
<p>‘Neal? Neal?’ she repeated. But he was miles away.</p>
<p>‘What?’ he finally said, snapping out of his trance.</p>
<p>‘Nothing’ she said as she came up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. ‘It’s all going to be wonderful, I promise.’</p>
<p>Neal took a deep breath, nodded and returned to his plans. This was the most meaningful, most personal project of his life and no matter what he did over the next couple of days, he was beginning to think it would never live up to his expectations. He and Sara had sacrificed so much for this gallery, financially and every other way and the big opening was only two days away. Two days from seeing his dream come true. </p>
<p>This <em>was</em> a dream on so many levels. It was a showcase for the many talented students he saw on a weekly basis, a chance to show the world the many faces of art as seen through the eyes of young, innovative artists. It was an opportunity to let everyone glimpse into the huge talent that was Hope Ellis-Caffrey and her vision of the world in all its simplicity, innocence and beauty. And finally, it was the culmination of his journey as an artist, an affirmation that he was not a forger or a counterfeiter but rather an artist in his own right, a man who had lived life and had things to say about the world around him.</p>
<p>‘Sara, I thought that special delivery was supposed to be arriving this morning’ he said, sounding worried.</p>
<p>‘It’s coming’ she reassured him. ‘UPS confirmed they’ll be dropping it off by the end of the day.’</p>
<p>Neal sighed. The final few pieces were a last minute addition and he’d given them a place of honour right on the back wall, to be admired by all as they came up the staircase and peered into the loft.</p>
<p>‘Look everyone, it’s twelve thirty’ Sara called out, taking charge. ‘Everybody take an hour for lunch and we’ll see you back here at one thirty.’</p>
<p>Neal continued working as if she hadn’t said a thing. ’Hey Caffrey!’ she said, coming up to look him in the eye. ‘That includes you too. Come to think of it, I didn’t see you eat anything at breakfast either.’</p>
<p>‘You guys go ahead...’ he mumbled, face buried in his plans.</p>
<p>Sara took a deep breath. She was about to insist then decided to hold back. She knew her husband all too well. There was absolutely no way she was going to drag him away from this place, not now, when the end was in sight. The best she could hope for was getting him to take a few bites of something she could bring back from the café next door.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>‘Neal is really intense’ Emily commented as they sipped their tea and tucked into their sandwiches.</p>
<p>‘That’s nothing’ said Hope. ‘You should see him when he’s painting. The house could be on fire and he wouldn’t even notice.’</p>
<p>Sara laughed and nodded in agreement. She couldn’t believe she was finally here, enjoying lunch in a Manhattan café with her daughter and her sister. Ever since Emily had come back into her life, she hadn’t stopped grinning, wanting to pinch herself at every turn.</p>
<p>After Liam’s condition had stabilized and he had finally come home, Sara had turned her attention to that little piece of paper Nora Lambert had handed to her on that early October day. She had gathered her courage and written a short e-mail to her sister asking if she would be willing to contact her. The phone had rung almost immediately and after several hours of laughter and tears, they’d arranged for Emily to cross the pond so she could spend Christmas with her sister and her family.</p>
<p>It had been a magical holiday season for Sara as she and Emily had become reacquainted and had grown to be inseparable. They had so much to catch up on and Emily had ended up staying with the Caffreys for three weeks, extending well past the holiday season. She had gone back to Brussels to put her affairs in order before moving back to the States permanently. She wanted to be near her sister and although she loved their house in Brussels, it was an empty shell now that Mike was gone. She’d promised to be back in time for the gallery opening and she’d kept her word, arriving that morning so she could share in the joy of watching one of Sara and Neal’s most precious dreams come true. </p>
<p>By the time the three women made their way back to the gallery, Peter and Elizabeth had shown up to lend a hand. As always, Neal had a lot of time for Peter and he counted on his partner’s common sense to help him make good, well thought out decisions. Peter and Neal were hunched over the plans and Peter was pointing to something when Sara made her up to the second floor with a gourmet sandwich for Neal.</p>
<p>‘Here’ she said, in her bossy pants voice. ‘Eat this, I want to <em>see you</em> putting this in your mouth and chewing it. I don’t want you sick for the opening.’</p>
<p>Neal looked up at his wife, briefly connecting with her as he kissed her cheek. ‘Thanks babe’ he said quietly, unwrapping the sandwich and taking a first tentative bite.</p>
<p>‘All right’ he called out, immediately returning to the task at hand. ‘We’re ready to put Hope’s collection up.’</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>‘I thought I might find you down here’ said Sara as she came up behind Neal, snaking her arms around his waist.</p>
<p>‘You still debating between those two?’ she asked, looking around his studio.</p>
<p>Neal nodded, rubbing his chin as his eyes went from one painting to the other. He was choosing the last of his pieces and he couldn’t decide between one of Hope when she was about three years old running in a field of bright yellow daisies and another of Liam as he prepared to jump off the dock at the cottage. Both were studies in human kinetics, alive with movement, relatable yet very personal as the artist’s love for his subjects shone through.</p>
<p>‘Could you squeeze them both in?’ she asked.</p>
<p>He turned to face her and he put his arms around her. ‘I suppose I could... How come you’re so smart?’</p>
<p>She shrugged and cocked her head in an ‘I don’t know’ gesture as Neal broke out laughing.</p>
<p>He turned his attention to her, tightening his embrace. ’I know I’ve been crazy the last few weeks. I’m sorry. I realize I’m going to have to let this go at some point...’</p>
<p>‘What can I do to help, Caffrey?’ she asked as she ran her fingers through his hair.</p>
<p>He shrugged and she proceeded to place a soft, lingering kiss on his mouth. He sighed and felt himself start to unwind. Sara always knew what he needed.</p>
<p>WCWCWC</p>
<p>The morning of the 22<sup>nd</sup> dawned crisp and sunny.</p>
<p>As event coordinator, Elizabeth had arrived bright and early to direct her employees and make sure not a single detail was overlooked. Her job, now that the gallery was totally functional, was to prepare for the many guests who would be arriving sometime after two o’clock that afternoon. That included welcoming them, serving refreshments, presenting the exhibits and generally making sure everyone had a good time.</p>
<p>Paul Bilowski, art critic for the Times had confirmed as had Javier Turner from New York magazine. Elizabeth hadn’t told Neal but she had also secured a critic from the Village Voice, which was the ultimate mouthpiece for anything artistic in New York City.</p>
<p>Elizabeth had asked Neal and Sara not to come down to the gallery until after lunch. There was nothing more Neal could do and she needed to work without him hovering over her. He had handed her the list of special guests which included Gus Brown from Los Angeles, Mabel Moore from San Diego, Katherine Baker from Tucson and Nora Lambert from Ottawa, all guests who were part of a special surprise for his sister-in-law, something he hadn’t even shared with his wife.</p>
<p>Emily’s five paintings had arrived, on loan from the Glebe Artists Guild in Ottawa and Neal had nestled the paintings on the back wall between his collection and Hope’s. There were now three artists in the extended Caffrey family and all three had special places on the second floor of the Raphaël Gallery.</p>
<p>The opening was a huge success and was written up in no less than six publications. As the Caffrey clan shared dinner with their friends and extended family the night following the opening, Sara Ellis rose to make a toast as Neal sat by her side, beaming. </p>
<p>‘Could I have everyone’s attention, please’ she said. ‘I’d like to read from the Village Voice’s morning edition.’ </p>
<p>She picked up the paper and began to read to all those assembled:</p>
<p>
  <em>‘The Raphaël Gallery opened its doors this week and showed the world that there was still a place for up and coming young artists who are exploring new and refreshing styles and techniques. It is a friendly, welcoming and inspiring place which isn’t afraid to take chances. The owner, local artist and teacher Neal Caffrey, has included daily tours of the gallery and classes for all levels of artists from beginners to the more accomplished. His daughter, Hope Ellis-Caffrey, herself a talented painter whose work is showcased at the gallery, will be teaching art appreciation classes to children from six to twelve years of age beginning next week. ‘We want to make art accessible to everyone’ said Mr. Caffrey ‘and not some out of reach medium for just a few privileged collectors. Art appreciation is in the eye of the beholder and everyone can learn to enjoy its beauty and relevance to the world.’ I say, long life to the Raphaël Gallery!’</em>
</p>
<p>Everyone hooted and hollered as she finished, echoing the sentiment, raising their glasses and chiming in with a hearty<em> ‘Long life to the Raphaël Gallery!’</em></p>
<p>Sara took her place next to Neal and looked over at her smiling children and her loving sister. Her life could not possibly be more complete. Emily had been found, Neal had found himself and she had found peace and contentment as her family was finally whole again.</p>
<p>La fin</p>
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